Last night when I posted about my unhappiness with my sock toe, it generated more comments and feedback than I have ever received in the blog comments. Thank you all for your advice and support!
Most of you suggested that I should frog the sock and start over. I hate frogging. With a passion. But I’m glad I did it.
At the suggestion of several commenters I started by casting on more stitches to begin with to get a more square, neater toe. I also took care to pull my stitches very tight as I was knitting into the cast on row. This helped a lot!
Then a couple of other people actually suggested that when I was pulling my edge stitches to make them tight, that I was actually pulling them too tight. Who knew? I relaxed on the edges and pulled tighter on the second and third stitches from each edge, and that helped a lot!
I’m not quite to where I was before the frogging began, but I think it won’t be long. I’m feeling better after restarting the sock, and I think it’s actually causing me to knit faster.
Ok, now that you’ve recovered from that bit of shocking news, let me tell you about my sock knitting experience so far. If I’m gonna knit socks, they’re probably going to be a big ol’ pile of the craziest socks you could imagine. But I didn’t quite know what that meant. Then I saw a YouTube video of Brian Kohler knitting a week’s worth of socks all at once, and I “had” to find the yarn for the American flag socks he was making. The yarn is Schoeller Fortissima/Socka in colorway 1776 Stars & Stripes. Crazy socks? here I come. See? This is what I have so far:
The beginnings of my toe-up sock
Actually this photo was from two days ago. Today, it looks like this:
Sock toe in progess
Which leads me to my question. I did a figure-8 cast on and I’m doing toe up on Magic Loop. I do four increases every other round, one stitch in from the edge stitch on each edge. Try as I might to pull the edge stitches tight, they look all big and loose and wonky. How do I avoid this so that they look all nice and even? I’d appreciate the practical tips from all you who have knitted a thousand pairs before.
I guess it’s not a secret that I’ve been in a slump. It would be easy to say that I’ve been extra busy at work, not sleeping well so exhausted, and extra busy with the kids. All of these things are very true. But, when I look at the sum total of my knitting that has taken place over the last month (or rather, what hasn’t taken place), it’s probably more safe to say that I have slumped below slump. I’ve knit maybe half a dozen rows on the body of a small toy, and crept along on a simple hat until I dropped some stitches three weeks ago and haven’t touched it since.
Is it enough to say that I’m bored? Nah. But that would be true, too. Nevermind that I’ve got at least half a dozen active UFOs, and a practically uncountable pile of stagnant ones. How can I possibly be bored? Sigh… I don’t know… but, I am.
So, to do something completely different, I am going to make socks. Yes, that’s right, I said socks. I’ve never done more than a pair of baggy worsted weight socks for practice, just so I could see how they’re made. But I have a bin full of sock yarn crying out to have something done with it. My excuse was that I don’t wear socks. I wear a brace on my legs that is very form fitting and I had always assumed that I could not wear socks with them. So, I’ve worn nothing but hose for the last 13 years. But a few weeks ago I got some new braces, and guess what? They’re actually more comfortable with socks. Who knew? Now I get to share the joy of sock knitting, if I ever get to truly experience it, AND wear the fruits of my labor.
purple and pink yarn being balled up So I found a hank of Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in the Berry Poppins colorway. It’s a yummy, pinky-purple that I think if I had to choose, is the best choice for my first pair of actual socks.
Now, of course, comes the hard part: choosing a pattern. I want to do toe-up, and it needs to be something with a relatively short stitch repeat so I can adjust to my odd foot size easily enough. (I love the Monkey Socks pattern, for example, but with a 16-stitch repeat it’s either too large or too small for me.) The pattern has to be easy enough for a novice like me, but not too boring, because we all know what happens when I get bored. Someone has suggested Leyburn Socks (link to free pattern pdf file) and others have endorsed anything by WendyKnits (Yes, I agree that her patterns are totally awesome.). With so many patterns to choose from, I’m going to take a couple days to decide. It’s going to take me that long to ball up Lisa Souza’s yarn anyway; as pretty as her hanks are, and oh, I love them so much that I have a lot of them), I have not mastered a method of placing her hanks on my swift in such a way that at some point they don’t just end up a knotted mess as the strands get pulled off. It’s yarn barf, every time, but worth it in the end.
The other thing I’m doing to help myself get over the blues? Some long overdue knitting time with my knit buddy Rhoda. She’s coming on Saturday, and I’m already mulling over some possible movie choices for us. I’m looking so forward to it! Hopefully all this will give me some renewed energy for knitting. Goodness knows that I’m generally happier when I knit regularly, so I just need to keep reminding myself of that. Knitting=happiness. It should be as simple as that.
Interweave Knits Weekend, Special EditionI finally scored a copy of Interweave Knits Weekend. Wasn’t it supposed to be coming out on September 15? I had pretty much assumed that it must have come and gone from my local bookstores, as I had been diligently scouring the bookstores in town for weeks. Then yesterday I pop into Barnes&Noble on a whim, and there it is.
It’s full of casual, relaxed clothing that is comfortable and wearable. And not only that, most of the projects are the sort of knits that have just enough challenge to keep your interest, but not so much that your brain explodes. (This is a major plus in my book.)
My favorite pattern is the Autumn Vines Cardigan (here’s a Ravelry link for you.) It’s a sweater with sort of loose, billowy fronts, with cables. Also I love the Provence cloche. Unfortunately, it’s probably not a good style for my bowling-ball head so I’ll have to find someone skinny to knit it for.
Knitting has been slow around here. I haven’t really touched my elephant project except for a few more rows on the trunk. It’s about done now, I think—only one more row, then it will be time to pick up stitches on the body. For some reason I’m stalled at this point. I’m starting to wonder if I have a subconscious fear of this next step. I’m not aware that I’m afraid, and yet, I haven’t done it yet.
I’ve done a few more rows on my Lifestyle Top Down Hat, and have begun what will be a fairly large ribbed section. Then that one will be finally done. Then I have Jennifer’s pink scarf to get done .The weather must be getting chilly in Michigan by now .I should hurry up and finish it! Then I need to hurry up and get going on some boot toppers for me .It’s fall now and I haven’t made any for myself yet. I do have a bunch of different shades of Cascade 220 yarn just for this purpose, plus a super-cute pair of Dr. Marten’s ankle boots. Now I just need to find myself the perfect Aran sweater to go with my fantasy fall ensemble. (Sigh… I don’t think traditional cabled knits are “in” this year. I’ve been looking, and they’re hard to find. Especially in my size. Maybe I should get the hint?)
Fall is definitely in the air here now. It’s gray and chilly outside, and today was truly the first day that I didn’t feel too hot for wearing a sweatshirt. I had not intended to cook dinner tonight and instead opt for something along the “eat leftovers or make yourself a sandwich” genre, but then the urge hit me for spaghetti sauce. A nice, steamy pot in the house on a gray, chilly fall day. Ahhh… that’s good..
Hi again! Did you miss me? Tell you what… don’t answer that and I won’t hold it against you for what you’re thinking. I think it’s official now that I am becoming a blog slacker.
The reality is that this is a knitting blog, and there just hasn’t been a lot of the knitting going on around here. I’ve had a couple of really big projects at work and between the stress of it and trying to get it done I’ve often been working very late and only getting about three hours of sleep at night. So, in the evenings during what would be prime knitting time and blogging time, I’ve been sitting like a zombie in front of the computer and playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. Then when I get up my second wind I work for a bit until I can see no longer out of my bleary eyes and then it’s off to bed. 5:45 a.m. comes awfully early under those conditions. Just to give you an idea of how late I’ve been awake lately, do you know what comes on TV after the show that comes on after Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? Let me tell you. Jennifer Tilly‘s playing poker these days. It ain’t pretty.
So, my whole life seems a sorry tale of ridiculous insomnia, but that isn’t the case. There’s at least a little bit of knitting going on. Last Saturday we had our monthly knit group meeting, where we said a fond farewell to Jennifer:
Our knit group held a farewell celebration for Jennifer
Jennifer’s husband is in the military, and his current assignment is in South America. So she’s moving down there with him, at least for the next six months or so. We sure will miss her in our group, and wish her well. Yvonne brought a yellow cake with coconut from the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmer’s Market (Yum!), and Marie bought a card for all of us to sign. It was a lovely afternoon.
This week I took the plunge and bought a netbook computer. If you’re interested I bought the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BU, which I chose in part because of the reported long battery life. Also it seemed like a pretty hot seller on Amazon and I figured all those people can’t be wrong!
Now I have a little computer when someone else is playing or doing homework on mine, and can write or blog or surf from just about anywhere. Of course, today I had kids playing on both of my computers, and I found myself without one anyway. I did spend quite a bit of time trying to get my photo editing software to install, and then resorted to contacting support. The first guy I chatted with wasn’t helpful at all, but the second guy said, “which netbook do you have?” and knew right away what was causing the problem. He had me up and running in no time after spending a lot of time struggling with it last night. So, I was able to edit my photos, upload, and blog from this new little computer tonight. I think this little machine and I are going to get along great.
The main reason I got the thing though was that there is a lot I want to write lately, and some of my best ideas come to me when there’s not a computer in site to jot them down. I’m no good holding a pen for more than about 30 seconds so this is a good solution. Not much bigger than a day planner, yet, the keyboard is comfortable.
Anyway, it’s late again so I’m going to sign off and go to bed. It’s a three-day weekend so I’m hoping to get caught up on some of that missing sleep. Wish me luck!
It’s been a busy and stressful couple of weeks at Casa de Trish Knits. Cars needing emergency repairs, way stressful at work, and lots of extra school related stuff with the kids. Who knew planning for high school next year was going to be so hard? When I was a kid, you just sort of showed up. Apparently, at least in my daughter’s case, it’s not quite like that. So, we’ve been extra busy and extra tired. Not much quiet time, and not much restorative sleep happening, either. Sigh. I’m kind of a caffeine-charged nervous wreck. But, sometimes, that’s just the way it is.
I’ve actually been forcing myself to knit. Staying awake in the car, and knitting. Keeping myself awake at all these extra meetings with the help of my knitting. Trying not to work so much at night so I can veg out in front of the TV and knit. (Believe it or not, I don’t do that very often.) I’ve been forcing myself to knit, because I do think it’s helping. And I have some stuff to show for it, too. Wanna see?
Elijah the Elephant in progress
This is Elijah by Ysolda Teague. At first I thought there is NO WAY mine is going to look anything like the one on the website. But, just tonight, I got far enough on the trunk that I could really see the head taking shape. If you’re like me and you really, really hate major amounts of seaming and finishing, but you want to make toys, Ysolda’s patterns are for you. Already I want to make several others of hers and I have ideas for others based on basic shapes in her patterns. I’m really enjoying making this little guy, and in the end, I think I might be sorry that I’m giving him away. My friend Marie has a friend who is collecting toys for an orphanage in Haiti and our knit group is helping the cause. But I can tell already that this is probably not going to be the only Elijah I ever make.
Then, for my commuter knitting, there’s this, which finally looks like it’s supposed to be a hat:
Hat Progress
I just added my second skein of Noro Kureyon today and I hope to have it finished in the next week or so. It’s based on Charisa Martin Cairn’s Lifestyle Top Down Hat and I’m hoping in the end that it will have a bit of a slouchy beret shape. I guess we’ll see…. wish me luck!
Finally, I have to share this:
Boyzilla and Bird
This is my BoyZilla at the pet supply store this past weekend. The kids like popping in there on the weekends when we’re out and about doing errands because there are always animal rescue people on hand with pets for adoption. This bird started out on my son’s arm and walked his way up to his shoulder. In this photo it looks like my son is a bit unsure about the whole thing but really he was quite excited and took the photo to school to show his second grade class. Isn’t he cute?
This Saturday is knit group already. Time’s flying, but I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully I’ll pop into the blog at least once again before then. It’s late, though, and I have a 12-hour workday to look forward to tomorrow. Oh, joy.
, which I chose in part because of the reported long battery life. Also it seemed like a pretty hot seller on Amazon and I figured all those people can’t be wrong!
