Project Notes:

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces, in Rainbow and Bold Red

Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. It’s one of the Four-Stitch Reticulated Patterns, using a solid color combined with a multicolored yarn.

Started: way back in January. These went on hold while I did a simple stocking stitch pair during Wintergrass, then have languished a bit, as I got bored with them.

Finished: June 25th, 2006

Needles: Lantern Moon ebony, size 1. I used a pair of size 0 bamboo for the ribbing.

For: Me

What I learned: Lots of things. Two color knitting is denser than one color (duh). If I did these again, I’d do a gauge swatch and try bigger needles and fewer stitches. These practically will stand up by themselves. I also learned that it does make a difference which color goes in which hand. I held the red (background color) in my right hand, and the multi in the left. This seemed to make the background color pop a bit more. When I did it the other way, the red stood out more. I also got to practice two-handed knitting, with one color in each hand.

I also learned that two color socks take more yarn. I used about three quarters of the skein of the Rainbow, and about one and a third skeins of the solid color. Because I hadn’t planned on this, the dye lot of the Bold Red is different in the two skeins. I used the different dye lot in the two color part of the second sock, where it’s camoflauged by the busy nature of the pattern, and saved the tail end of the first dye lot to match the toes, where it would show more. You can tell the difference, but not so much when they’re on your feet.

And they’re done. Finally. The two color socks that have taken forever to finish are in the finished pile.

Project Notes:

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces, in Rainbow and Bold Red.
Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. It’s one of the Four-Stitch Reticulated Patterns, using a solid color combined with a multicolored yarn.
Started: Way back in January. These went on hold while I did a simple stocking stitch pair during Wintergrass, then have languished a bit, as I got bored with them.
Finished: June 25th, 2006
Needles: Lantern Moon ebony, size 1. I used a pair of size 0 bamboos for the ribbing.
For: Me

What I learned: Lots of things. Two color knitting is denser than one color (duh). If I did these again, I’d do a gauge swatch and try bigger needles and fewer stitches. These practically will stand up by themselves. I also learned that it does make a difference which color goes in which hand. I held the red (background color) in my right hand, and the multi in the left. This seemed to make the background color pop a bit more. When I did it the other way, the red stood out more. I also got to practice two-handed knitting, with one color in each hand.

I also learned that two color socks take more yarn. I used about three quarters of the skein of the Rainbow, and about one and a third skeins of the solid color. Because I hadn’t planned on this, the dye lot of the Bold Red is different in the two skeins. I used the different dye lot in the two color part of the second sock, where it’s camoflauged by the busy nature of the pattern, and saved the tail end of the first dye lot to match the toes, where it would show more. You can tell the difference, but not so much when they’re on your feet. I’m not sure I’d do these again  but it was fun to practice the two color thing.

Now that those are done, I immediately started on a new pair of socks. I have been jonesing to start a pair from Socks That Rock, as I have a bunch in the stash. This is the Rainforest Jasper color, which was the first skein sent out in the Rockin’ Sock Club. I’m not doing the pattern that came with the yarn, as I’m not in the mood to follow directions. I’m doing what’s developing into Lorette’s Famous Sock Pattern, which will be unveiled as this thing goes along. This is being fine tuned by taking bits and pieces of many sock patterns that I’ve seen and tried.

First step; Cast on. For this sock, I’m doing a picot hem, just because I love those little spikes on the top. They remind me of the points on a queenly crown. (My family will be well aware that this motif fits.) The cast on is a long tail cast on, because it will be turned under and won’t be seen. When I’m doing a plain ribbed-topped sock, I use the German Twisted Cast On, described here.

Here it is in the process of being hemmed.

How-to: cast on 64 stitches on size 2 mm needles, divide between four needles, knit seven rounds. Next round: YO, knit 2 together all the way around. Switch to 2.25mm needles. Knit seven more rounds. On the next round, fold up the hem along the yo-k2tog row, and knit each live stitch together with its corresponding cast on stitch. This is fidgety, and takes a little time to make sure the rows line up, but makes a nice hem. You’ll need to weave in the end of the yarn from the cast on edge before you hem it up. Use a stitch marker to mark where the round starts, if you care about that sort of thing.

Note that this is still a little experimental. I tend to just wade in with sock yarn instead of doing gauge swatches, so the stitch count may get revised if it looks too big even for Bigfoot (me). If you are going to follow along, you need to figure out how many stitches you need for your own foot. The official way to do this is to knit a gauge swatch, then measure your foot around the ball of your foot. Multiply the two numbers. So if you get 8 stitches per inch, and your foot measures 8 inches, you cast on 64 stitches. Or something like that. I prefer the trial and error method, as I hate doing gauge swatches with sock weight yarn.

Also note that my needles coordinate with the yarn. These are my Pony Pearls, some of my favorite sock knitting needles.

So far my verdict on the STR yarn: Wow. The colors are intense, and the yarn very nicely spun. I can see why everybody loves this stuff. I’m using the lightweight variety, and it feels just a bit heavier than the Lorna’s Laces or Opal.

And just because I know you guys count on me to point out stuff that you need to buy, here’s something more:

My very own Emergency Sock Knitting Kit, made by Cassie.

What’s inside, you might ask?

Extra needles, a ruler, a tiny crochet hook, scissors, darning needle pinned to the fabric, and a stitch marker pinned to the fabric.Of course, you are responsible for loading up your own kit. It doesn’t come with all that loot.

And what’s on the card, you might ask?

My instructions for kitchener grafting, for the toes. Because I can never remember how to do it.

Sandy is on a mission to make Saturdays more entertaining around blog-land. Go check out her blog for the “rules”.

Here’s my Saturday sky:

And here’s my happy Saturday dog, playing the “hose” game:

Have a happy Saturday!

That’s my latest favorite picture of Riley. The box sits by our front door, and Alan the UPS man leaves packages there if we’re not home when he comes around. He also carries Costco dog bones in his truck, which explains why Riley just loves him. She hears his truck about 3 blocks away, and goes bonkers until we open the door. Then she gallops out of the house and gets in the truck with him.

Every time she goes by that box, she gives it a sniff, then looks at us as if to say, “just open it, I’m sure there’s a bone in there.” Of course, every time I go by that box, I open the lid, just to make sure that somebody didn’t leave me any yarn when I wasn’t looking. At least I don’t go out and jump in the UPS truck when he drives up.

Here’s what I’m knitting today.

I just need those socks to be done, now. I’m sick of two-color sock knitting, enough so that I’d consider getting rid of a few toes on one foot so they’d fit. I have about 15-20 pattern rows left, then the toe decreases, then I will be done with them. To make matters worse, I know that I won’t be able to wear them until fall, since they are way too heavy for summer socks. I have been so tempted to cast on for a different pair, but I know myself too well. If I do, these will be relegated to the “never finished” pile. I don’t actually have a “never finished” pile, and I don’t want to start now. So I might line up about ten hours of Law & Order or JAG reruns, and knit all night to finish them. JAG makes especially good knitting television. All the plots are the same, so you don’t really miss anything if you are paying attention to the knitting.

The next picture shows my latest knitting related purchase.

This is probably an example of why I shouldn’t be allowed to have an internet connection and a credit card at the same time. Susan mentioned this tape on her blog a few weeks ago, and of course, I had to have it. I really did not need to buy it in every color, and in all three widths, but there you have it. There is enough highlighter tape to highlight chart rows for the rest of my life right there. I bought it here, if you are interested. Though I’m not sure they have any left. Here’s an action shot:

I’m off to finish those socks.

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For those of you who comment, I added “comment verification” to the blog. I hate this, as it’s a pain in the ass, but I’ve gotten a bunch of spam comments lately. So blame “cellphone Sam” and others like him for this.

11 days since my last post, that is. That has to be some kind of record. Let me explain. (No, there is too much. Let me sum up.*)

I’ve been on vacation in lovely North Dakota, visiting my sister. This year was her 40th high school reunion, and I came along for moral support. We’ve had so much fun here that I just haven’t had time to even think about blogging. Actually, her computer is a bit slow, so I haven’t had the patience to download pictures and do the whole blog post thing until this morning. I have been knitting this week, however.

I brought two projects with me, the orange Pippa cardigan, and Langsjal Johonnu. Most of the week we spent in Fargo, where she lives, and I alternated between the two projects. I can work on the stole when I have relative peace and quiet and can pay attention, and the cardigan is for the rest of the time. I packed both for the road trip to Edgeley, the little town that we grew up in. Of course I managed to sit on the bag that the cardigan was in, and snapped one of my ebony (sob) circular needles within about ten minutes of getting there. Let me just say that Edgeley doesn’t have a good yarn shop so I could replace it. Then I got stuck while knitting the stole, at the section where you change from knitting the border to knitting the middle part. For some reason I couldn’t make the numbers work out. The lace pattern is charted, and the horizontal repeat isn’t marked on the chart, so I had to figure out which stitches were the borders, and which stitches repeated nine hundred times across the width of the shawl. I finally figured this out yesterday morning (in a sober moment) and I’m off to the races. It looks like a mess of wadded up lace at the moment, so no pictures of the progress for now. That will have to wait until I’m home and can pin it out on the blocking mat for a proper photo.

Here is one photo however. This one was taken before I figured out the numbers on the chart.

Perhaps the bourbon had something to do with my counting difficulties. I’m not willing to concede that just yet.

In case you think that North Dakota has no cultural activities, check out this link. Make sure you look through the gallery of photos.

* Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride

Or, I Can Stop Anytime I Want

Here’s where I am in the  Amazing Lace shawl. I’ve finished the first border, and have gotten to the second border. Once I finish that, I can start on the center section, all eighty thousand repeats of it, and really get to the fun part. Here’s a photo:

This is just so addicting. I even get up early to get in a row or two before I go to work. Those of you in my family know that this is serious knitting addiction we’re talking about. I am so not a morning person, and there is little that will get me out of bed earlier than I absolutely have to. I’ve given up reading, as I can’t knit and read at the same time. The TV choices have been pared down to mindless drivel that I can knit to without paying attention. I’ve considered buying a lottery ticket, so I can win big, retire from my job, and knit Icelandic lace forever. The lace and I have seriously bonded. My next post hopefully will have my second entry for the Amazing Lace challenge.

By the way, I am not sure whether or not I should be proud of the fact that if you enter “nupps” into Google, mine is the first site that comes up. That is truly weird. Try it, if you don’t believe me.

The house project is coming along. The stucco guys are here working on things, and it’s looking a little more promising. Yes, I’m still under the circus tent. Oh well, soon enough, they tell me. Here are my new ground-level closets that we gained in the course of the project. There is one of these on each end of the house.

And this next one just makes me laugh. For a while there, my house resembled a Holstein cow.

I’m off to knit. I’m starting to dream in Icelandic.

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Annie of Knitty Gritty asked us all to let you know that she is taking a blog break. She had a last post composed but her bloghost shut her down a little more expeditiously than she expected. If you are a reader, she wanted to let everybody know that she is taking the summer off, and may be back later in the year in a group blog.

First of all, I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. Last week was my 7-day work week, and was just busy enough that I didn’t get much knitting done, much less blogging. This week, my internet connection has been on the fritz. We took Comcast up on the offer to switch our phone service over to cable, and it worked well, for the first week. For the past week, it has been less than ideal. Some days I have internet, some days not. To give the Comcast folks credit, they have sent guys out twice, both times on the same day that we called, and were very helpful. So far today it’s been OK, since the cable guy came out yesterday. There were a couple days when we didn’t have phone service, either, but now that’s working as well.

I thereby proclaim today an official email-blog-post-answering amnesty day. I will go through all the comments and answer questions, but being as I’m over 60 emails behind (and that’s just the blog comments), I’m not answering all of them. Thank you to everybody who has 1) said how lovely my sister’s scarf was, 2) liked my Amazing Lace post, 3)felt sorry for me because my house has been eaten away by wood rot, 4) complimented my dog, and 5) offered Icelandic translation services. There, I think I’ve covered it all.

Oh, and I was joking when I said that I had Icelandic music loaded up on the Ipod. I have listened to some songs on Rhapsody, but they have precious little from Iceland. Lots of Scandinavian artists, not so much Icelandic. Though it might help if I knew what I was looking for.

Today was sort of a loss. I have been very distracted by all the pounding and sawing going on here. The stucco guys start tomorrow (at 6:30 AM, on a Saturday), so they are definitely making progress, but the noise is starting to get to me. It’s been rainy, so we’re still under the Big Top, which is starting to drive me nuts. Normally Riley gets to go for a long walk to the park every day, but today it was raining off and on, so I took advantage of a lull in the drizzle to take her out just around the neighborhood. I got about ten minutes away from the house, and the sky just opened up. Even Riley tried to hide under the bushes, and she normally likes the rain. By the time I got back to the house, I was drenched, and soaked all the way down to my underwear.

Then I started knitting. I should have just known better, given the way the day had started. I’ve been working on those two-color socks, and have gotten the second one done past the gussets, so now I “just” have the foot to go.*  As a reward, I picked up the Langsjal Johonnu, and did a couple of rows. Then I found a mistake, and ended up tinking back the same two rows. Here’s a picture that shows about where I am. The idea is blatantly stolen from Claudia.

I’m starting to like the yarn more, though some parts of it worry me a bit. It is unevenly spun, with some parts looking more like a fingering weight than laceweight. And there have been a few short sections where calling it “cobweb” would have been generous. I’m hoping that these hold up to vigorous blocking. We’ll see.

I am liking the pattern. I think I might do the two ends first. The construction goes like this: you knit one border and the center section, put it on a holder, then knit the second border and graft the two together. I’m thinking that if I do the two borders first, then I don’t have to think about how much yarn I might need for the second one, and can just knit merrily away on the center part until I nearly run out, leaving just enough to graft the last row. Smart eh? We’ll see on that, too.

Everybody think good thoughts for sunshine in western Washington. I’m just sick of rain. Even the ducks look like they are sick of rain. I’d even settle for just overcast and dry.

*”Just”. I have size 10 1/2 feet, so this is not much consolation.