Twisted Stitches

I got my test sock back for the Bubbly Toes pattern! Trish was commenting that they sort of look like space invaders ships… They totally do when they’re unstretched: check out that first picture! I think that’s also why the diamond pattern isn’t as obvious on the leg as it is on the foot on the one I’m wearing. I love the pattern and the yarn though, so I’m going to reknit these at a different gauge.

I’ve been working on a Koolhaas hat this past week. I just finished all the regular pattern repeats, and took a picutre before starting the crown shaping. See any problems? How did I miss that cable cross?

I also picked up the bamboo Clapotis again yesterday. I just finished the straight section and turned the corner on the decrease section. This was ging to be for my grandma last Christmas, but I had put it down when I realized I couldn’t finish it in time. Now I’m not sure if it’s the best gift for her any more. She’s lost a lot of mobility and it may be too big and unwieldy for her now. We’ll see… In the meantime, I’ll knit on. I love the drape of this!

I’ve been looking at patterns for that red cotton I picked up last week. I’m waiting to get my niece’s measurements from my sister but I’m pretty sure I have enough yarn for any of these in her size. I’m kind of debating between three patterns right now. The first is Karys - a simple stockinette tee with girly, ruffle sleeves - and the second is Lilli - a cute little cabled tank top - both from BingeKnitter. There is also Monica, which is a plain tank top with a ruffle at the top from Knitty.

Monica is appealing because it’s free (I just found out my contract at work is almost certainly not being renewed next month), but Karys would fit her longer since it’s a loose shirt to start, and Lilli is just adorable (or is it just the photo that makes me think that)?

This post is courtesy of aylii, who purchased some of my hand-dyed Faking Sanity Fixation a while ago. She’s just finished a River Grass sock (pattern available here and Ravelry link here) using the nearly-solid St Paddys Day colourway, which has very subtle shifts of green. The first picture shows the colourway best, but I also had to include a second picture for you all to ogle admire the lovely sock:

The corn socks for the roommie are done! I just finished kitchenering the second toe, and she hasn’t taken them off long enough for me to weave in the end at the cuff, so I guess that means they’re ok!

I also bought a skein of Sandnes Garn Sisu yesterday for a mini-Koolhaas.  I think I may make a few of these, because the thought of baby and kid-sized Koolhaas hats is just way to cute. For now, I’m off to swatch as I bought a thinner yarn than the worsted-weight the pattern calls for, but I’ll have to play with the stitch count as well to get an appropriate size.

Red isn’t a colour I knit with much, but I do love certain shades of it. I bought this with a specific pattern in mind, which I’ve decided not to knit, but I want to find the perfect project because I just love the super-saturated colour so much. I have a single skein now, but there are more at the shop in the same dye lot if I go right away… So of course, I’ve spend the last 2 hours scrolling through Ravelry and Patternfish for appropriate projects.

Anybody have advice/thoughts on whether this hat (Little Star-Hat on Ravelry) would be appropriate for a baby boy if done in a different colour? Or, do any of you have suggestions for baby boy knits?

The camera is unpacked, and the sock blockers are out (well, the small one are out, so forgive the loose fit in the pics). Take a peek:

The first two are of the Walking in the Maize socks (pattern here), including a close up of the eye of partridge heel flap and round heel (and the beginning of the arch-hugging ribbing). I couldn’t find a standard answer as to whether the stitches that are slipped were supposed to be twisted or not, so I tried it both ways; I liked the look of these twisted slipped stitches best. These will be for the roommie as soon as the second one is done.

The last picture is of the modified Kenkyos (link to original pattern, which I bought on Etsy) I knit for myself. I love these. At the gauge I was knitting, I would have had to modify the pattern a fair bit to get it around my heel and start cabling all the way around. I fiddled a bit, but in the end, I decided to just do a twisted rib leg and heel. I love the result, but wow, is that a lot of ribbing!

I’m not proud of it… I’ve been a bad blogger with no pictures on any of my most recent posts, and I even cast on a new pair of socks without telling you, but I’m feeling both excited and guilty, so here goes:

Last Sunday, I cast on for Walking in the Maize socks, and I just finished the first one, using Maizy yarn (82% corn fiber /18 % nylon). Well, technically I still have to kitchener the toe, but I don’t want to do that until the roommie gets up in the morning and tries them on one last time, to make sure I got a good length/shape of toe for her. I also have a day off tomorrow, and will therefore be unpacking a few more boxes, including my camera, so I’ll even post some pics for y’all! And maybe even start the second sock (shocking I know… don’t tell)! for now, I’m off to bed. Good night!

I never win stuff. Ever. So, when FiberFiend -  the author of my favourite sweater knitting pattern (Corsica) - decided to host a pattern giveaway, I stated my favourites as a show of support more than as a desire to win. And yet, I just had my ears burned on Ravelry, as she magic linked me to say I had won! I’m a little shocked actually… and now I’ll get a shiny new copy of her Seascape sweater pattern. Wee! I really must finish unpacking so I can get to all the knitting, spinning and dyeing I want to do!

Tonight was the yarn-related swap night at Make One. It was so much fun to see everyone again, and there is some awesome new stock. And some great key lime muffins! I managed to get rid of some of my Cashsoft DK and some Misti Alpaca laceweight. Both in black - can you guess who got those? I was also happy to see my Malabrigo go. It was a sweater’s worth of Malabrigo worsted in Tuareg - the most amazing blue. Unfortunately, once I changed my mind about the sweater I was going to make with it, I couldn’t think of any others I wanted it for. I’m glad it went to a nice fiber-loving home! I also swapped my Knit Picks Gossamer laceweight in Blue Jeans.

I did pretty well for myself: I got some lovely sock yarn which I already have a pattern in mind for, 4 oz of merino-tencel to spin (oh, how I love that blend) and a pound of Cotswold for spinning (a new fiber!). One of the best parts about the Cotswold/Malabrigo swap is that I got rid of the Malabrigo tonight, and the Cotswold will be flicked/combed and picked up at a later date (read: I don’t have to move it this weekend). Wee!

I haven’t knit so much in a long while. The day before yesterday, I ripped out the Hedera’s I had started since I decided I needed a longer cuff, and cast on again, but from the toe up. Aaaah. It just feels … better? less awkward? I don’t know exactly why, but toe-up just feels “right” to me. Before going to bed last night, I turned the heel on my first Hedera. Wee!

The packing is… going, but am taking a break. I had cast on for Cookie’s Hedera socks, and just tore them out. I decided I was going to tear them out to do a taller cuff, and then it occurred to me that I may as well reverse the pattern and just knit it toe-up instad. I do love my toe-up socks. Even though I’ve found some decent stretchy cast ons now, I just prefer to knit toe up by far. Pics to come after the move, but for now, the reknit portion is about 2″ long. The pattern is really easy, so this will be perfect “packing break” knitting.

It’s been a while since my last post…

First, I finished knitting my test sock for TangledArts. I was going to post about that, but I forgot to take a picture of it before I shipped it off, so I thought I’d wait until I got it back and post about the knitting and show pics at the same time.

I was also going to post about finishing my Kenkyo socks - until I realized I couldn’t bind them off the way I wanted since we’re moving, and I already packed my knitting tools kit. Then, I thought I’d just take a picture as is and blog about them anyway, since they’re done except for the bind off, and I realized I also already packed my camera. Bah.

So. Here’s the deal. I promise to be a good blogger someday. Once I’ve moved and unpacked, and gotten my test sock back, I’ll assault you all with the wonder of my knitting skills (ha)! I’ll even do some dyeing, and show you pics of that as well. In the mean time, since I can’t post pics of any of my recent knitting, and I’ve packed everything but a single skein of Austermann Step and one set of needles, I decided to cast on a new sock: Hedera. We’ll see if I can be persuaded to actually finish a top-down sock this time (I’ve tried a few but tore them all out, and worked them toe-up instead).

I’ve had tons of stuff ready to go up on the shop for a while now, but just finally got around to taking pics. Here’s some of it:

Psst, mechanicaldoll!  Were you still interested in a purple and black bracelet?  I was playing around and ended up with this one (not a fabulous picture, but it was the closest I could get to the right colours):

I also have earrings and a watch going up in the next day or too, so stay tuned!

Oooh, have to show off my newest chainmail project!  I have some other stuff going up in the shop over the next couple of days, but this was a custom project that’s just waiting on a better clasp:

If you’ve been anywhere near me in the last 5 months, you’ll probably be very aware that I have a little hard on for Jared Flood’s Koolhaas pattern.  It started when I knit one for my brother-in-law for Christmas (Cascade Ecological):

And then I made one for me (Sheep Shop Sheep One) and one for a friend (Manos Wool Clasica):

The latest one I had even more fun with, since I also dyed the yarn for it.  I started with some lovely Custom Woolen Mills mulespun worsted and ended up with a pretty damn cool hat, if I do say so myself:

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures of your own head?  Bah!  Though I do love seeing the backgrounds (despite having to delete the ones that make us look like complete and utter slobs.)  For instance, the stack of Munchkin boxes, Joshua Malina as Will Bailey on my computer screen (damn West Wing has sucked me in again), and my collection of geek DVDs (Stargate, Doctor Who, Buffy, Lord of the Rings, etc.)

I decided to rip back my kenkyos to the heel and try something different, rather than adjusting the pattern to accommodate my number of stitches and gauge, as I had originally planned. So, while I was at it, I decided to play around with a new heel. The pattern has a twisted rib with cable crosses, so I decided to try and guess my way through a twisted rib short row heel. I’m kind of pleased with the result, as it should blend in with the pattern really well when they meet up again:

I finished my test knit for tangledarts. I must say that I love how it turned out, and I can’t wait to show you pics or to knit this again! I think it’s the very first sock I’ve actually knit to pattern.

I just got my email from Ravelry, and my yarns are in the Ravelry database now! Woo!

You were a good sock. You were beloved. You were not extravagant and glamorous or different and exciting, but you were my first. Alas, fair sock, it is time to say good bye; you just don’t do the job any more:

This was the first handknit sock I ever completed; it’s also my very first dead handknit sock.