Back to Socks

My most recent creations are these Almondine socks from the pattern by Anne Hanson, in the book "Sock Knitting Master Class". I finally made a pair just for myself. I love the colorway and they are extremely comfortable. The yarn I used was Tosh Sock from Madeline Tosh in the colorway Plaid Blanket. 

A New Sweater Project

Now that I have finished Even Flow, I have decided to start another sweater.  This one is for my mom (and funded by her; she bought the yarn).  I will be making Chickadee from Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague.

A swatch of the yoke motif in the colors that mom and I picked.

I am very excited to be working a sweater with a yoke, and Ysolda's book is fantastic at describing pattern alterations. 

A box of yarn!  For me!

I have figured out the gauge (she got the same gauge on #5 needles that takes me #8 needles) and I am ready to cast on.  I will keep you all posted.

But first I need to finish my French Market Socks. *sigh*

I am on the second sock's heel right now, so I will finish these in the next few days.  But as someone who rarely makes a pattern twice, I am a drudge when it comes to second socks.

However, these are turning out to be really pretty.  And I'm finding that my stranded colorwork looks way more awesome after blocking.

Ooooh . . .

There is a bit of stress along the edge of the heel that worries me.  This yarn is a loosely twisted 2-ply, which means that it is super easy to break, but it grips to itself and the stitches around it.  I think that I will just reinforce this area with another strand of the same color stitched over it in Swiss darning.  This should make the row along the heel better wearing, but only time will tell.

Three Strand Colorwork

First, check out my stylish new sweater that I haven't taken off all weekend!

I am terrible at selfies.

Now, check out my new Craftsy and Etsy stores.

Finally, here's what I have been up to: Three Stranded Colorwork.  This is something that I really dreaded for a long time.  It just seems like there is so much potential for tragedy in the whole operation.  I mean, working with 3 strands of yarn at once?  Sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

But it's pretty.  So very pretty.  And so, last week I picked up the Lampwork Hat and Mitts kit that I got a few years ago from Knit Picks and had at it.

Not too shabby. Now on to the matching fingerless mitts.

Now, I may be knitting with 3 colors, but usually a row will only call for 2 of them.  So I have been exploring ways to control the yarn.

The thing that has always baffled me about stranded knitting is that there are so many different ways to do it.  But there are 2 methods I want to look closer at: 1. knitting with a color in each hand and 2. my way, in which you drop the yarn when you are not using it.

I finally tried the first one this week.  (There is a tutorial with lovely pictures here.)  I normally knit continental style, with the yarn feeding through my left hand, but I understand how English style (with yarn through the right) works, so I thought I would give it a chance.  And really, it was kinda neat.  It does keep your yarns from getting twisted, and the efficiency of motion in your hands is awesome compared to dropping the yarns.  However, I tend to knit with a pretty high tension; I am forever going up a needle size to get gauge; and I just could not get the yarn to feed through both hands with the same tension.  Actually, I had trouble getting the yarn to feed through my right hand at all.  I have really worked hard on loosening up a bit, and where my left hand has been trained, my right doesn't seem to have gotten the message.  (Kinda funny to be right-handed, and yet less able to control your right hand while knitting.)

I'm certain that if I just kept at it, this method would totally work for me.  All it would take is a little practice.

But I am stubborn and impatient.

So I just went back to my usual method.  I will assign a top color and a bottom color (and a middle color if needed) and then knit while keeping them oriented that way.  When I am not using a color, I simply lay it out of the way to the right, being careful to keep it in its place of top, middle, or bottom.

I found that this way gives me a looser tension than I normally have, which is great because that way I don't have stitches that are buried into the background.  Also, this keeps my floats (the yarn that goes across the back of the piece to the next stitch of that color) nice and loose.

I have also finally learned to tack my floats.  If you just wrap the yarn you aren't using around the back of the stitch, it turns out that you don't have to continually catch your finger/toe/etc. on the yarn left on the back of the piece.

And then I discovered that there was such a thing as color dominance.  This one blew my mind.  It turns out that which yarn is assigned to the top and which to the bottom makes a difference in the appearance of the finished piece. (Check out the link for a great picture to demonstrate.)  So I have decided that I will always have the darkest color at the bottom and then grade by darkest shade to lightest from bottom to top.

Finally, I finished the hat and have started my French Market Socks.  And I have to say, the choice of yarn for colorwork makes a difference too.  The hat was made in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, a very nice South American smooth wool yarn.  I am making these socks in Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, a Shetland wool yarn that has only a light twist and is a lot more "sticky" than the Wool of the Andes.  Turns out that Shetland is a very popular wool for colorwork and there's a reason for that.  The "stickiness" of the yarn makes tensioning a breeze.  Once a stitch is in place with the other stitches around it, it is not as likely as a smoother yarn to loosen up by itself.

Colors picked out by Shervie. Gotta love the twisted cast-on.

So, fairly long blog today, but it has been an enlightening week. 

A New Pattern!

That's right!  I have released a new pattern!

The Harney Peak Hat is a spiral ribbed hat made from wool and alpaca.  This hat is super warm but unlike 100% alpaca it holds its shape.  I am very excited to see other people's versions of this hat!

I have priced the hat at $2, but for the first week (until November 29), you can get it for $1 by entering the coupon code "AJC" at checkout.

So go!  Get your copy today! It can be found here or from my Patterns page.

You know you need a warm winter hat.

And in other absolutely amazing news, I finished the black socks of doom.  I just sat and watched Poirot and let my hands go.

Not too shabby

They are now washed and blocked and once they are dry I can give them to my dad.

So, grab a copy of my pattern for yourself or your favorite knitter and I think I will kick back and have a beer for a week well done.

Working it

I have been pretty busy the past few days working on my crochet design project.  If all goes well, I should have my first crochet pattern out some time next week! 

I have realized through switching  back (I learned to crochet first) that I am a much better and more sophisticated knitter than crocheter.  And the next time I say that crochet is easier, because I will, remind me to read this post. 

The stitches aren't difficult, but there are so many different kinds of them!  And seriously, I cannot remember the last time I had to count this intensely.

Lovely double crochet

In other news, another design project (a knit one), that I have been working on for a couple of weeks, has hit a snag.  I am almost done with it and I am not happy with the gauge.  And I am out of yarn.  And I was already working on the largest needles I own.  This is very frustrating.

So, I picked up some numbers 17 and 19 needles and I am about to frog (rip it) the whole thing and start over from scratch at a looser gauge.  Maybe I can get the drape of the thing right this time and stretch the project yarn to be enough all at the same time.

Otherwise, I am continuing to work on the black socks that plague me and the Even Flow sweater.  I am almost done with the patterned body of the sweater and will soon be working on the collar and the central front.  And I have turned the heel on the socks.

More work to do today, and I'm trying to dye over the coffee portion of my last dye project.  There's no rest for the wicked.

A Very Busy Week

I have been working very hard in the last week.  Mostly because I am trying to spend more time working and less time dwelling on the traumatic past.  I guess this is the productive stage of grief.

I have been thinking lately of actually getting a job, but life is funny, and it seems to be easier said than done.  Out here in the Black Hills, the economy is very focused on tourist season.  It is very, very easy to get a job here between May and September, but it is almost impossible to find a job in winter, especially if you are looking for something non-professional.

So, here I am, with nothing to do but focus on my knitting and fiber projects.  And in a turn that I could never have predicted, I have the time, the support, and the space to really go for it.

First, the projects that I have finished:

A River Runs Through Mitt

I finally finished making the second mitt of A River Runs Through Mitt from Darn. Knit. {Anyway} at the 2013 MN Yarn Shop Hop!  I even wove in the ends.  Now I just have to give them a good wash and they will be ready just in time for cooler weather.

Double Bump Dishcloth

I tried my hand at dishcloth knitting with the Double Bump Dishcloth.  Amazingly, this is my first dishcloth.  It was fast, really fast, and kinda fun.  I worked this one up because I wanted to make one with someone else's pattern before designing my own.  I am currently planning out a 3-class, beginning knitting class that teaches the basics though a dishcloth pattern that I designed.  I will keep you all updated as to when and how this class might happen.

The black bamboo/silk socks from hell.

I really don't mean to whine about knitting.  I love knitting, and I love knitting socks, and I really love a challenge.  But these stockinette, black, size 1.5 needle socks really seem to be kicking my butt.  The stockinette is boring, the yarn can be hard to see, and there are quite a few stitches.  And just to make it harder, I was trying to make these socks for my husband just before he passed away.  But I believe that the project is worth it and they will be beautiful socks when I am finished, and I will be able to give them to my dad.

The good news with these socks is that I finished the first one this week and started the second.  The bad news is that I still need to pick up tiny black stitches along the heel of the second sock.  Oh well.  All projects have their frustrating points and I'm sure they will turn out beautifully.

A sweater finally?

I have also decided that I am going to make a sweater with the sport weight Wool of the Andes that I have had stashed for an age.  I picked up the pattern for Even Flow by Joji Locatelli.  I'm thinking of casting on today.  Wish me luck.

Finally, I submitted my first design proposal this week.  I have been designing a cowl and I pitched the pattern to a magazine.  We will see if anything comes of this.

Otherwise, for future excitement:
-  I will be working on networking in the Black Hills fiber arts scene.
-  I am signed up for a wheel spinning class next weekend at Fall River Fibers and my mother might be joining me in that adventure.
-  I am teaching myself how to dye yarn with food dyes.

Just some things for readers to look forward to.  I have assigned myself a posting schedule of Tuesday and Friday every week, so please tune in!

On Wings of Stainless Steel

Wow. What a response to my last post! So many wonderful sock ideas! I too dream of the perfect legs for my socks. And for you beginners who commented: do not be afraid of cables; they are much easier than they look.

However, I realized that I never described my dream socks.

I am currently dreaming of making the Almondine socks from Sock Knitting Master Class in something bright and colorful. I love leafy botanical patterns.

And as for the new HiyaHiya needles, this sock has started to just fly by!

My First Giveaway

So I made a mistake.  Last post, I was so excited because my new needles from Knit Picks had arrived and I was all set to make this second pair of socks.  The mistake?  I need longer than 4 inches of needle.  My hands are just too big for these needles.  So after struggling through most of the leg portion of my first Asymmetrical Cables sock, I have thrown in the towel, bought a pair of HiyaHiyas and admitted to myself that I will never be able to use these needles.

My new needles that don't poke me in the palm.

The needles that I wanted to use.

So I have decided to give away the whole set of 4" Harmony Wood knitting needles on this blog.  I will take all of the comments from now until Friday, April 5, 2013 at midnight CST and run them through a random number generator to pick a winner.

Please tell me in your comment what your dream sock looks like.

But look at those cables!

A Bad Day

*Frown*  There is no new sock yarn yet.  There is no new anything yet and I am beginning to suspect that the postman delivered the box to the antique store downstairs that is only open from 11 AM to 5 PM.  (I work from 8 AM to 5 PM.)

All I wanted to turn this day around was some sock yarn.  I guess I will have to make do with my Big Cosy Cowl project.  After all, I did decide that I want to wear it out on Saturday night and I will need to kick some knitting butt to manage that one.

I promise that my next post will find me in a better mood.  I am just feeling a bit whiny today.

Persistence Pays Off

Ta-da!!

They're finished!  They're really finished!  All I need to do now is wash and block them.

Now I just need to get my package from Knitpicks with my Euclan, new sock yarn, and set of sock sized DPNs.

I also worked up another of the Drop Stitch Cowls this weekend for the SO, but I modified it to have a bit of a hood.  After all, he can't use his ponytail to hold it up like a scarf like I do.  You can take a look at the project here.  It is still a bit of a work in progress.  I think I might tack the two corners on top down to the sides, or I might just rip back and pick up some stitches.  I still have to think this one through a bit.

I promise to update the minute I get my new sock yarn and cast on.  I can't wait to get started on my second pair.

About a week ago, I mentioned that I had an interview with a local yarn shop.  I'm afraid that I didn't get the job.  It turns out that it is odd to brace your knitting needle against your hip or belly when you knit.  They were very kind and explained that they would like someone who could teach one of the standard methods.  *sigh*  Oh well.  I have taken this as a piece of good advice and I have been working on not bracing my left needle when I knit.  I figured out that I do already know how to knit without doing this: I can't do it when I use circular needles.  But this might explain why I prefer DPNs.  However, I noticed that k1p1 rib is far, far easier if I knit without bracing.  It just makes it way easier to move the yarn from front to back and vice versa.  As I said, they were very kind to me and I absolutely recommend checking out and shopping at this shop.

So I would like to give a recommendation: if you are in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, you should check out Steven Be and The Yarn Garage.  They have an amazing selection of yarns and fantastically friendly and helpful staff.

Casting On to New Adventures

I did it!  I made it through the gusset decreases last night and cast on the Big Cosy Cowl!

The hank of Mushishi really is huge.  I mean HUGE.  It is 450 odd yards of worsted weight.  When I untwisted the hank, it was 3 feet across.  So I decided that I did not want to ball it.  I have no patience for balling and it would make a gigantic ball of yarn.  So I improvised.

I give you . . . the yarn holder:

 

Ingenuity at its best.

A bit crude, and you still have to be careful about unwinding the yarn from the skein.  But I think that this is something that I can manage.

Also, today I got the book Sock Knitting Master Class.  I'm very excited to pick up new techniques while working on socks.  The sock pattern for April will likely be from this book. 

The Second Sock Blues

Today I want to cast on a new project so bad it hurts.  But I am being good and working on the second black sock.  I'm just afraid that if I let myself get started on something new, I will never want to finish the second sock and it will sit for several years until I forget which pattern I used and where I was in that pattern.

So for encouragement, I just keep singing to myself, "It's so nice . . . I wanna knit the same sock twice."  (To the tune of Boss D.J. by Sublime.)  But it still is boring me a little.

The second sock or mitten, or anything matched, is both a blessing and a curse.  You know the pattern.  You can do the pattern the same as the other one without too much cursing or problems.  (Well, you can if you remembered to take good notes and count.)  But it is something that you just did, and if you are like me, you will get impatient about moving on and learning new things.

The good news is that I am at the heel flap, and I have given myself permission to start a new project once I pick up the stitches on the sides of the heel and do the decreases going into the foot of the sock.

Part of the reason why I am so excited is that I got the yarn for a new project today!  (This is related to the fact that I had an interview with a local yarn shop this morning.  I will tell you all about that once I know the outcome.)  Granted, I have the yarn for at least 3 other projects, but I have been trying to find this yarn for over a month now.

The yarn is Plymouth Mushishi and I got it in the 09-red color.  And the project is the Big Cosy Cowl pattern by Jennifer Wilder.  This pattern was featured in the Fiber Art Almanac Companion Journal and I have been longing to make it ever since I saw it.  Also, I seem to have a thing going for wool/silk blend yarns lately.

Just as a personality note: normally, I do not make patterns in the same color as the photo.  Often I do not even make them in the same yarn.  However, this cowl just caught my eye, and as much as my rebellious nature tried to convince me to at least pick a different color than the picture, I was in love.

Well, *sigh*, I guess it is back to the sock slog for a while.  The more I work on it, the sooner I can move on.  And I like doing heels, they are interesting and fun.

I will be sure to update if I cast anything on this weekend and I will definitely be here celebrating when the second sock is finished.  I should be done well ahead of my deadline at the end of March.

I haven't quite picked out a pattern for the socks for April yet, but I do have a yarn.  I will be posting more about that before the beginning of April.  I would love some company in the sock of the month project.  So if anyone out there reading is interested in knitting along or even making your own pair of socks of any pattern, I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for reading,

Angie

Hooray for wool/silk blends!!

Sock yarn for April.  Admit it; you are intrigued.

Sock Update and The Sock Project

Change of plans on the socks.  I have been knitting on these beautiful black stockinette socks for my SO, and I had him try them on tonight only to find that his feet are too big for the socks!  Particularly, the distance from his heel to the top of his foot is too big for the socks I am making.  When he tried them on, they gaped where the heel work met the front of the sock.  He would wear them out in no time.  *Sigh* *Sad-face*

So I guess that I am going to have to finish these lovely socks in the right length for myself.  Life really is soo hard.  I was hoping to make a nice present for someone else, but I am actually making a nice present for myself.  I guess it's not so bad after all.

Luckily, this fits nicely into my new great idea:  The Sock Project.  I am going to try to make a pair of socks every month for a year.  So these are just the first of 12 pair.  I am counting them for the month of March.  Now I just have to figure out how and where I need to make increases to make socks that fit him.  If I figure it out, I will self-publish the pattern.

Works in Progress Report

I've been working on a pair of socks for my live-in SO.  I found a really simple sock pattern and some Heritage Silk yarn from Cascade Yarns and started knitting. 

I think sometimes I find things easy when other people don't because nobody ever told me that it was supposed to be hard.  I've been working these socks on number 2 DPNs and I decided to make them all in black fingering weight, because it is simple and will look good with anything.  Luckily, I picked a yarn that has great stitch definition.  And luckily, I didn't know that black was hard to work with until I was halfway done and used to working with the yarn already.

Next project that I will be casting-on is the Lampwork Hat and Mitts kit that I got from KnitPicks.  I actually was ordering the yarn that I needed for a sweater that I am designing for myself, but the order fell short of their $50 free shipping offer, so I picked this one up.  Because of indecision on design, I will be casting these on before I get started on the sweater.  (I will post about the sweater in a blog post of its very own soon.)  I am looking forward to practicing more color-work.  I've done a few things in 2 colors before, but I think this will be fun.

And as soon as I get the needles that I need, I will be casting on to make the Drop Stitch Cowl out of the gorgeous Berroco Soufflé that I just had to buy and then I didn't know what to do with but I couldn't afford to buy very much.  It will be beautiful and soft, but I do feel a little silly for paying nearly $18 for 100 yards of yarn.