Trish Knits.com

Tag: sock

  • (Almost) Good As New…

    Afghan showing fixed bottom edge

    Last night I had a Venti Mocha right before dinner. Being suitably caffeinated, I decided to dive in on fixing the blanket. In the end, I felt that grafting was a wee bit beyond me, especially since I wasn’t dealing with a clean edge. Not the way I want to try something new, really. I’m not that brave. So what did I do? I attached the matching yarn to stripe three (the first undisturbed stripe) and bound off from there. Picking up all of the stitches was a bit of a pain, since the yarn below was a very fuzzy alpaca. Some of the stitches were hiding! But I think I got them all. At least I hope I did.

    So, the “new” first row of my blanket isn’t the color I wanted it to be, and to me, it doesn’t look right. But the truth is, the recipient has no idea what I intended so in the end it’s probably ok. So I’m just a little sad, but not as much as I was a couple of days ago! Soon I’ll be able to get back to my regularly scheduled knitting and this whole nasty episode will be behind me.

    Pool Knitting

    Second sock in progress with ball of yarn attached

    This being Memorial Day Weekend here in the U.S., I spent a good number of hours knitting by the pool. Chatting with friends, mostly, and getting some knitting done, but I’m enjoying it. I’m on round 14 of 25 rounds of ribbing for this slipper sock, and then I’ll be done with my first ever pair of socks! Yay!

    I’ve already got lots of socks lined up for the summer. And some sock monkeys. My kids went through my tub of buttons tonight, picking the eyes for their future monkeys. I guess I’d better get busy!

  • Monkey Yarn

    two hanks of socks that rock yarn, one in shades of brown and the other is red, black, and white

    On a happier note, Have y’all seen these? It’s the “Funky Monkey” kit (or pattern) from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I’ve never been one to jump on a knitting bandwagon right away, but we can thank the Yarn Harlot and Ravelry for changing that. When I saw these, I knew I had to make some right away. Put it on my list of things to make at the pool this summer. They offer these kits at the Blue Moon site in all kinds of funky color combos. But I decided that I wanted to make a pretty basic brown with red accents monkey (or something that would recall the sock monkey I grew up with) so that I could knit him all kinds of crazy monkey accessories in a variety of wild sock yarn colors. The colorways I chose for accomplishing a neutral-ish monkey are “Mudslide” for the main color, and “Doctors without Borders” for the mouth, but and tips of arms, legs and tail. I think I’ll stick to the little monkeys for now. I’m betting when my kids see it they’re going to want one.

    I also have the stuffing and a container of buttons that I got from Joann’s, so I’m good to go, except for the pipe cleaners, if I want my monkey to have poseable arms, legs, and tail. Which I do. The pipe cleaners are on their way from Klutz. (I was surprised for some reason that I could not get the pipe cleaners at Joann’s. So then I tried a craft store, but could not get an assortment of buttons there. So much for one-stop shopping.)

    Today was another lovely spring day by the pool. My kids turned into popsicles in the water and I sat and knitted and listened to “A Good Yarn” by Debbie Macomber. (iTunes Link) It’s a fluffy read, just like the other book, but hey, it’s summer, and I’m just not into straining my brain right now. I’m doing endless rounds of 2×2 rib on my second slipper sock. Maybe it’ll be done by tomorrow.

    What’s on my agenda for the rest of the weekend? More pool knitting, and I’ve got a blanket to try and fix.

  • Practice Makes…. Better!

    This afternoon, DH took little man to a birthday party in Virginia. It left daughter and I on our own for dinner, and I decided that we would have an easy time of it and order pizza. She grabbed my bag when the Pizza Man knocked, and when reaching for my wallet to hand it to me, accidentally grabbed the sock that was in there, too, and pulled the stitches off the needle.

    After dinner I set about fixing it, only I could not put the sock back down! And before I knew it, I had turned my second heel ever:

    Second Sock, left side of heel

    Second Sock, right side of heel

    I am quite pleased that the results are much improved over my first heel:

    closeup of short row heel stitches

    I was so worried I guess about not being able to find the wraps (they’re hard for me to see, especially with dark yarn) that on the first sock I wrapped a little too loosely. Which, I think, is why the heel of my first sock looks, well, holey. Second sock is not perfect, by a long shot, but much better. Now I can’t wait to do this sock thing with actual sock yarn.

    Which brings up the subject of today’s transgression. Perceptive readers might notice that my Yarnaholic Meter was reset to Zero today. It’s because I couldn’t resist buying some Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in babyish colors for the impending baby in yesterday’s post. I got three colorways: Spumoni, Peacock, and Pumpkin. I am planning baby hats and socks all around, and if I get adventurous, maybe some baby jackets. We’ll see about that.

    Tomorrow I’ll start the cuff on my sock. For now, it’s back to the brown ripple afghan… Ciao!

  • Pool Season

    brown ripple blanket in process

    Believe it or not, today was the first day of the swim club being open. It was too cold to swim unless you were a totally insane person (like my daughter), but we enjoy going there and hanging out, so we went for lunch. Didn’t stay long because my little guy wanted to get in, too, only he’s too young to get in the pool by himself and there was no way my DH was going. But it was great chatting with friends who we only seem to be able to get together with in the summer months. Every summer it’s always amazing to see how much each other’s kids have grown, and it’s fun to catch up on a winter’s full of activities that we always somehow miss hearing about until now.

    I’ve actually had a rotten cold that started up on Thursday afternoon. I called in sick Friday and went to the doctor. It’s just a rotten cold, but I mean, ROTTEN. I don’t even have much energy for knitting. But at long last, I have been working on the brown ripple afghan again. I actually switched colors today for the first time in a while, and will probably be able to do that again tomorrow already. I haven’t been knitting at that pace, on ANYTHING, in quite a while. But… there’s been lots of napping in between, too. I guess I’ve needed it.

    Since joining the Summer of Socks 2008, I have since learned that our pool manager is expecting her first. This is happy news! She and her sister used to babysit for me when my daughter was a baby. So, it looks like baby socks and hats will be in order! I’ve been looking around the interwebs, and I’ve found quite a few patterns and resources to check out:

    Baby Keep Your Socks On — by Amy King

    Just Your Basic Baby Sock (PDF) — by P2 designs

    Tiny Toe-ups — by Patti Pierce Stone

    Chart of Baby Foot Sizes (PDF) — from WendyKnits.net

    Tie One On Baby Socks — The Keyboard Biologist

    Baby Jays — by April K

    Ribbed Lace Toe-up Baby Sock — by P2 Designs

    Baby Life Ring Socks — by Cat Bordhi — by P2 Designs

    If I knit a bunch of these then I’ll have the whole sock thing down before I know it. Now, I’m on a quest for ultra soft and washable sock yarns. I know, I know… Socks That Rock comes to mind immediately, but would also love other ideas. Hopefully things that aren’t too expensive, but also high yardage AND washable. Oh, and soft. Very soft. Soft enough for a baby’s, well, you know…

    I’m thinking that if I can find balls of yarn with high yardage then there would be enough to make socks for my size 6 feet and have enough left over to do baby socks. Do-able? I’d love some feedback…

    Ciao for now, gotta go blow my nose. Yuck.

  • A Sock Story

    Sock Finished, with cuff up
    Sock Finished, with cuff up
    Finished Sock, cuff down
    Finished Sock, cuff down

    This is it! The finished sock, in all its loose, holey glory. But hey, it’s my first, and my kid says she’ll wear it if I make the other one. Who knows? Maybe I will. I’m pretty proud of myself. Now I have this urge to know everything in the world there is to know about sock construction.

    Here’s my project info, just in case I ever really do make the other one, and I need something to go back to.
    Yarn: Wool of the Andes
    Color: Amethyst Heather
    Needles: Harmony, size 4
    Pattern: Come to Silver Two at a Time Toe Up Socks (yeah I really only made one!)
    Details: CO and did toe increases as in pattern. When toe increases were finished I knitted 36 rounds plain. Did short row heel as in pattern. Then over four rounds, increased on two rounds by four stitches each, for a total increase of 8 stitches. Then did 25 rows of 2×2 Rib. Used sewn bind off as in pattern.

    Someday, it will have a mate.


    Kauni Rainbows

    Kauni Effektgarn


    Yay! The postman smiled upon me today and brought my Kauni Effektgarn 8/2 yarn that I ordered from Astrid’s Dutch Obsessions last week. That was fast! I can’t wait to swatch. I of course got the Not only did they send me 6 150g balls of the beautiful yarn, but I also got a yummy sweet cookie, which lasted all of about 4 seconds. It was kind of like an ice cream cone all rolled up in sugar. Yum!

    I am going to make Ruth’s Kauni Rainbow Cardigan, of course. Someone on Ravelry even gave me a link to an upsized version. Yay. It’s been done before and I don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

    I wish I could get started, but there’s this brown ripple afghan calling my name. Sigh…

  • Done.

    It’s after midnight, and I REALLY need to sleep. It was a rough day today. But I just have to say that the reason why I am up is that I finished the sock. Yay! Photos and gory details after work. Good night (good morning?) for now.