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A Sock Story

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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…

I’m So Weak!

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purple skeins of yarnOk, yes it’s true… my Yarnaholic Tracker does not lie. Last week, I caved and bought yarn. LOTS of yarn. What am I going to do with it? I don’t know yet. But it’s here. In my stash. That pile, you know, the one that’s overtaking my house.

I shopped at Knit Picks, as per usual, and got Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather and Onyx Heather. My daughter has a lovely purple afghan that my step mother made for her a number of years ago, when her room was purple. So I got enough yarn to make myself an afghan and have some left over for some felted hats (of course).

Then there is the not-so-small matter of the endless brown blanket for Miss Z. I am making progress. I am. I am. I am still enjoying knitting it. But there is the issue of that huge box of new yarn and I SO want to make something with it. The Miss Z. blanket cannot wait so I must remain strong. I must hold my resolve to finish that project first and to work on nothing else until it is done. Miss Z. needs it. I need to be able to give it to her. And I will. In a way I am glad she likes brown and I don’t. for a brown blanket, it is turning out BEAUTIFUL if I don’t say so myself, and if it were in colors I actually loved I might have a hard time giving it away. No, not really. I can’t remember the last time I knitted something with such joy and such purpose. It’s a cool feeling.


charcoal colored skeins of yarnWanna know what else was in the box? A set of size 7 Harmony needle tips with a 24″ cable set, that’s what! IJ at work has been eager to learn to knit. About a month ago she bought herself a learn to knit book and I told her about KnittingHelp.com. She doesn’t live near a yarn shop so I offered to include starter needles and a ball of yarn in my big order, which of course she then paid me back for. She decided she would go home with her book, yarn, needles, and website and see what she could do on her own, then she’ll come to me with questions next week. I hope she has an easy time and can get going! I bet she’ll be fine. She seems like the kind of person who would be a successful self-taught knitter. I can’t wait to give her some pointers on Monday!


Harmony Cable Needle Set The last item in my bag was the Harmony Cable Needle Set. Aren’t they just lovely? I usually prefer to cable without a cable needle, but there are times when the extra insurance is really helpful, such as with a slippery yarn or one without much give. I just love looking at them, and hope they will be not too slippery to do the job!

All for now, talk to you soon.

OBU

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Multicolored brown ripple afghan in progress

(Obligatory Blanket Update)

Well, here it is, the latest photo of my ripple afghan in progress, for Miss Z. One or two more people added their work to the blanket this week, and I feel like I’ve knitted a LOT, but visually, from the picture, it doesn’t really look very different. I guess I’m entering that disappointing stage where hours and hours of knitting yield very minimal results. All knitters hit that wall with long-term projects. At some point. Right? Please tell me I’m not alone.

So this week my kid decided that she needs to do five rows a day on the baby blanket she’s working on for her teacher. So far, she has stuck to it, except that tonight she is feeling a little punky so I doubt she’ll knit today. I hope this isn’t the beginning of a winter virus making its way through our house.

I caved and bought yarn this week. Lots of yarn. 25 balls of Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather, and 20 balls in Onyx Heather. Not sure yet what I am going to do with it, but I was originally thinking maybe a blanket of some sort, or at least a couple of hats and mittens and scarves etc. We’ll see. Obviously I won’t be taking on any new projects for a while yet.

Also in the box is a set of needles in size 7 for IJ at work. She wants to learn to knit! I can’t wait to teach her. I’m hoping she will love knitting as much as I do.

Not much else going on around here. Brenda has a new episode of Cast On up today so I’m gonna go listen and knit. Ahhhh. Knitting and Cast On. Two things that make winter more bearable. Thanks, Brenda.

Before…

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Diana's hat before felting

Diana's hat before felting

Yay! I finally finished the felted hat for Diana! She’s home with a sinus infection today so she was really happy to model the hat without having to show her face!! I started by looking at the Fiber Trends AC-1 Felted Hat for reference, but in the end I deviated quite a bit to get sizing that was appropriate for a 9-year-old girl! I’m actually proud of myself that I’m getting to know enough about hats by now that I could figure this out pretty much by myself! I’m looking forward to the day that Diana will be able to wear this cute little hat! Plus, it was good to get back to making one of my favorite things, to offset the ongoing nature of some longer-term projects.


… and After

Diana's hat after felting

Diana's hat after felting

And here’s the hat after felting! Isn’t it cute? This was the first felting test for my new Kenmore front loader washer (nearly identical to the Whirlpool Duet) and I am happy with the results! Since my old front loader usually took three cycles to achieve a desired size, I decided to live dangerously so we set the washer on the “Sanitary” setting with a “No Spin” on the rinse cycle. I was so nervous when it came out of the wash; it looked like a tight little ball and smelled something like a wet dog! (wet sheep?) But with rigorous stretching and kneading, it took a nice shape fairly quickly. There’s a Gladware bowl underneath the hat for now as it dries, which happens to have the same diameter as my lovely child’s skull. I’ve been smoothing it every so often, and it feels a bit like working with dough!

So this was my first experience felting with KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, and I do have to say that so far I am pleased! This is a nice yarn to felt with and very inexpensive, too. Where it used to cost me about $30 to make this hat, I can now do it for about $10. I am still working on a garter stitch hat band, which will be embellished with a rainbow-colored butterfly pin. I’m sure this hat will be gorgeous! I’m doin’ the happy dance!