savannahchik knits

FO: India Socks

Another pair from the pile of socks-in-progress is done. And this one meets two goals. I took notes on sock one so I could reproduce it on sock two. And, I've finished another 2005 MDSW yarn purchase.

matching stripes courtesy of my handy dandy notebook	increases and the tubular bind off

Details

Yarn Regia Jubilee -- India Colorway
Needles 2 Addi Turbo 2.25mm (US #1)
Pattern Basic 60 stitch toe-up with a figure 8 toe and a short row heel. I did calf increases so I could make them longer without cutting off my circulation. To fit my leg, I increased 2 sts every 4 rows a total of 8 times (to bring the stitch total to 76 sts).
Gauge 8.5 stitches per inch

The tubular bind-off was fun but took some practice. The second step (when you're going through stitch 3 purlwise, while stitch 2 is still on the needle) needed to be looser than I originally thought. I had trouble making it loose without being loopy until I started stretching the ribbing after performing each step. I just did a quick stretch and it really seemed to make everything look nice and smooth -- and stretchy.

I love these socks so much that I've already worn them twice in just a few days. I washed and dried them inside out and they did just fine in the laundry. Their first wash definitely softened them up a bit too.

FO: Rainy Day Socks

proof that yes, my calves really are *that* big

A scant 14 months from the cast on date and these are done!

   

Pattern Rainy Day Socks from The Sock Calendar by Catherine Wingate and Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer (from HeartStrings)
Yarn Trekking XXL in color 78
Modifications The pattern is top-down with an afterthought heel (they call it a peasant heel). I did mine toe-up with a wrapped short row heel and EZ's sewn cast off.

Pattern and Yarn Thoughts

I picked this pattern because I wanted to find something other than a basic stockinette sock for the Trekking. I didn't want something so patterned though that it would interfere with the pretty, subtle colors of the yarn itself.

The slip stitch pattern did the trick. After knitting a repeat it was easily memorized, and it gives the sock just enough texture to keep it interesting to knit as well as look it (now that they're done!).

The book has some great patterns in it. Amazon's view includes the back page which shows closeups of all 12 socks. At 14 bucks this book is a deal.

There's also a follow up book--The Sock Journal--that includes 12 more socks. I don't have this one yet but you can check out the back page for closeups of the patterns as well.

I did find the yarn to be somewhat splitty while knitting them, and although I could knit them without looking, I'd have to do a quick survey each row and note if any stitches had become split.

I've already washed and blocked them and I noticed no substantial change in texture or gauge; the water remained clear even on the first wash. This yarn isn't the softest sock yarn out there, but it's not scratchy or uncomfortable either, and I expect the nylon content to make a good long-wearing sock.

In case you're counting, I'm now down to 5 socks-in-progress. Not a bad way to usher in my first FO of 2006.

Afterthoughts on the Garter Stitch Heel

Someone (which blogger had this idea in the first place?) started going back and giving thoughts on projects after she'd worn them and used them for a while. It's an awesome idea and I have several in mind.

Since I'm wearing my Jaywalkers today (summary post is here) it seemed fitting that I talk about them.

In general I still love them. The yarn (Tess Super Sock) machine washes and dries perfectly. I do turn them inside out (no different than how I wash most T shirts and washable sweaters) so the RS doesn't get too beaten up during laundering.

The big change I made to the pattern was using a garter stitch heel. I still think the heel is great. It's cushy and form-fitting.

As long as I'm wearing mules. When I have shoes with a back the heel stretches and poofs out of the top.

After walking around for a couple minutes things seem to settle in place and relax and the heel looks normal, so it's definitely something I can live with. I think this problem is caused by the fact that I made this heel deeper than I usually do. This combined with the stretchiness of garter stitch makes for a growing heel.

Next time I'm going to try making the foot a couple rows shorter -- probably about a half inch. I am still very happy with the shape of the deeper heel so I don't want to make it shorter.

To sum it up -- I like the heel, it just needs a little tweaking so it's perfect.

Sock Sunday

I always start out strong with my yearly goals. Maybe I should make goals each month instead?

So...I have some good progress to show! Last Sunday I had less than a half a foot of the India sock done...and today it's finished!

So now I'm onto sock #2 of the Trekking. I cast on for sock 1 over a year ago, so rather than just a quick cast on I had to figure out how many stitches to start with, what kind of increases I used, and how frequently I increased. They're almost identical, but they look the same on my feet so I'm fine with it.

For now I'm sticking with socks and only socks for January, but it's early so don't be surprised when I stray.

As for the Koigu contest, there are a few strong contenders and I need to make a final decision. I'll announce a winner over the next few days.

Koigu Contest

Interesting comments to yesterday's post! Some of my favs:

• Christy and Katy had similar points in suggesting if we go shopping and can't find anything else that we'll buy sock yarn so we don't come home empty handed. This one hit home. I am positive that I do this (although I never noticed it until she said something).
• Johanna suggests I forget about knitting all the yarn and just roll in it. I like her style!
• Kris made me laugh when she said she plans to catalog her sock yarn before her next order arrives

And this one is the one that made me really think...

• Amy suggests I use the Koigu for something else.

I have considered that, but dismissed it because all the colors I listed are doubles. I bought 2 hanks just for socks. It doesn't mean I _have_ to make them into socks, but it seems like the best fit.

It got me thinking "What else could I do with all these double hanks of Koigu?". The 2 hanks total 350 yards, so I have 350 yards of each of the colors you see here.

So -- the contest...

What is your best suggestion for how to use this yarn? Use one ball, or many. Mix and match as you like. I will say that my inclination is to not split up the 2 hanks of the same color, but I'm open. My favorite suggestion wins...what else? A couple hanks of Koigu -- maybe from the stash, maybe new. I haven't decided yet.

So give me your best idea. I'll leave the contest running until Saturday.

20ish? Yeah...in base 16

I catalogued all my sock yarn. 20 wasn't even close. I have yarn for a solid 31 pairs. This does not include yarn that's not necessarily for socks (e.g. Schaffer Anne). I'm tempted to declare January a War on Socks, but that'll surely jinx me.

1. Artyarns Supermerino Pink and Peach (110)
2. Artyarns Supermerino 4 Turquoise and Green (123)
3. Dale Baby Ull Pink with green and dark pink (?)
4. Elann Sock It To Me Colori Pink with turquoise and purple (29)
5. Fortissima Colori Socka Color Denim print (9099)
6. Fortissima Socka Cream (1048)
7. Hand Jive Cream dotted with pink (Odd Duck #7)
8. KnitPicks Essential Burgundy (23698)
9. KnitPicks Essential Dusk (23693)
10. KnitPicks Essential Pumpkin (23699)
11. Koigu Gold and Green (P301)
12. Koigu Navy with bits of orange and mossy green (?)
13. Koigu Pink with lavender and green (P219)
14. Koigu Pink, Red, Orange and Purple (P807)
15. Koigu Purple and Fuschia (?)
16. Louet Gems Marine Blue (?)
17. Louet Gems Opal Pink (?)
18. Mountain Colors Bearfoot Dark Navy with subtle purples (Thunderhead)
19. Opal Dark Blue and White (Farbe 5 Partie 16)
20. Plymouth Sockotta Black with rainbow (20)
21. Plymouth Sockotta White with gray (18)
22. Regia 4ply Color Navy with light blue and brown (5171)
23. Regia 4ply Color Reds (5571)
24. Regia 4Ply Colors Light blue and tan (?)
25. Regia Crazy Color Bright pink and black stripes (5402)
26. Regia Jubilee Pink (India)
27. Skacel Trampoline Red with green and yellow (233)
28. Sock It To Me Colori Turquoise and Blue with pink and green (33)
29. Spirit Trail Superwash Merino Teal and brown with some pink – 18-20 spi (48-04-04-01)
30. Steinbach Wolle Strapaz Multi Purples with green and gold (114)
31. Trekking XXL Purples with bits of pink (78)

* indicates SIP

Socks Socks Socks

If I'm going to be serious about my goals I need to examine my sock knitting.

Exhibit A

These are my current SIPs (socks in progress). They're all lovely, and any of them would make a welcome addition to my sock drawer. Problem is, I'm no more than halfway done with any of 'em.

From the upper left going clockwise we've got

• Regia Jubilee in India. Love love love this self-patterning yarn!
• A twisted stitch sock of my own design. Still in the very early design stages, and actually...too wide and not enough patterning. More on that in another post.
• Roositud socks
• A Trekking sock in a slip stitch pattern.
• An almost complete knee high. Kellee even sent me a huge spool of clear elastic to do the top portion so I'm out of excuses!
• Red Skacel Trampoline sock. This is my first sock with elastic built into the sock (instead of lycra it's something they call "polyester elite"). It's so form fitting and should be really comfy to wear.

So there you have it. Six pairs of socks -- most of them are 50% complete. How am I going to avoid this in the future?

First off, I'm going to give 2 socks on 2 circs a try. Now that I've tried 2 sleeves at once, I'm very interested in trying 2 socks. I think this might do the trick because what I've noticed is that I motor through sock 1 because I can't wait to see what it looks like. If I have 2 on the needles, it stands to reason that I should motor on through the two (right?).

Well, we'll see.

BTW, I'm considering making it a rule that I need to knit up all previous MDSW sock yarn before this year's MDSW. I have knit some of it so I only have yarn left for 3 pairs, one of them being the Regia India above. I know I'll be adding to the sock stash at MDSW so maybe a little self-imposed stash cleansing is in order.

Thanksgiving Socks

      

Specs

Pattern Jaywalker. 84 stitch sock at 9 spi (pattern recommended just under 8 spi but I liked the yarn better at 9).
Yarn Tess Super Socks in an unknown coloway (if I had to guess I'd say Confetti). Is it just me or does Tess not mark the hanks with the colorway?
Yardage I used 80 grams which translates to approximately 360 yards.
Needles 2-2.5mm/US 1 Addi Turbos

Mods

I made several small mods to the pattern.

• I used a tubular cast-on and did a 1x1 rib instead of a 2x2 rib at the top.
• I used 2 circs instead of DPNs. The pattern adjusted to the circs just fine, but you did need to think about where to split between the 2 circs. Because of the way the pattern increases and decreases you need to split the circs right where 2 increases occur. In order to do this and still have the pattern look right you also need to do the first increase at the end of needle 2 (so the increases are right next to each other). I don't know if I'm explaining this well, but leave a comment if this doesn't make sense. It's not critical that you split the needles this way, but if you don't you'll have to reshuffle stitches every 7 or 8 rows.
• Garter stitch short row heel. I didn't follow any pattern for this so I'm not sure I did this correctly. I wrapped all but 9 sts for the 84 stitch sock. When going to pickup the wraps I had to pickup the WS wraps differently. This surprised me at first since it's garter st. On the WS rows I lifted the wraps off of the stitch that it wrapped. So from right to left my left-hand needle had 2 wraps and then the stitch itself. Then I did a sssk (knitted all 3 together). This formed the best-looking RS. If anyone knows of a better way to pickup wraps on the WS of garter stitch please let me know!
• Once I finished the heel I needed to decrease a bit. So I added in a 3-stitch gusset. The first 3 rows after I finished the heel included the double decreases at the sides. After that I did a SSK or K2tog just like the pattern says.

Thoughts on the yarn

This yarn is a dream to knit with! I can't believe I've had Tess sock yarn in my stash for a year! It is very stretchy and with 20% nylon I expect it will hold up well. There was a considerable difference in softness once I washed them. I washed the first sock as soon as I was done and you could really tell which one had been washed. The yarn did lose some magenta color when washing but I only knew that because of the color of the water. The yarn itself remained vivid.

A New Heel

I turned the heel last night. The change I made is pretty obvious, right?

I used a garter stitch short rowed heel. Christy showed me her mermaid sock over the weekend and I knew I had to try it. Thanks for the inspiration, Christy!

I also made a change to the way I normally do short row heels. I've been using Wendy's proportions for heels. That is, I've been leaving one fourth of the sock stitches at the heel as unworked stitches that I didn't wrap.

Well, last night I also got my copy of Folk Socks and noticed that Nancy suggested doing an afterthought heel until there was one inch of stitches left. Structurally the afterthought and short row heels are very similar so I thought I'd give it a try. This heel fits me much better!

added later One-fourth of the stitches is 21, and one inch of stitches is 9. So, this modification has made for a much deeper heel

I was a bit concerned that the garter ridges would be uncomfortable but at such a small gauge that doesn't seem to be a problem. I won't know for sure until I wear them, and at this rate I may be done before Thanksgiving!

Tess, finally

I've had this Tess yarn wound up for 3 months now! At first I thought I'd make gauntlets, but that didn't take. Then I tried a few stitch patterns to use as a scarf but the colors were too bright and crayon-like for me to think I'd actually wear it as a scarf.

In the end I went back to my go-to project -- socks.

Do I really need to tell you the pattern?

In true grumperina form, I have made a couple changes. I prefered the way the yarn knitted up at 9 spi. I know it's really tiny but I just don't like loosey goosey knitted socks. They look bad and they wear worse. So, I cast on for the larger sock size and actually got a sock that matches the smaller size -- perfect.

The other change I made was to use a tubular cast on and a 1x1 rib. Why? The 1x1 tubular cast on is *so* much quicker. At 9 spi I figured I earned at least one short cut.

I do have one other change in mind. Christy you probably know what it is since I told you I liked your sock that used it this weekend.

The rest of you will have to wait a few days. I'm such a tease, aren't I?

roositud lessons

This roositud business is definitely a learning process. I substituted yarn because Rauma yarn isn't avaialble locally for me and when it's Saturday afternoon and you really need to start a new project, well, mail order just won't do.

I missed one important thing in subbing yarn though. The roositud yarn is about twice as thick as the sock yarn! When I realized that I knew why I wasn't quite happy with my tension so far -- the yarn just had too much room to move around. I thought about it this morning and decided I had to fix it. Mary Beth summed up my thoughts best today.

Can you tell the difference with the second strand of yarn? See those first few rows and how they almost look diagonal? That's why -- they just have too much room to move around! The rest of the rows are doubled and it's much nicer. I still think I have some room for improvement, but it's definitely better.

BTW, this roositud is almost as finicky as intarsia. I'm untangling after each row -- nothing like knitting in the round to further twist things up. Especially when some rows use three colors and some rows use two.

I'm really not complaining though. As I knit each round I think about how much fun it'll be to wear these socks -- to hike up my jeans each time I walk by a mirror just to see the color peak out, or to bear my calves and show off share these with fellow knitters. I can't wait!

roositud!

you have no idea how i had to contort myself to get this pic

Five inches of knitting at 8 spi doesn't go very quickly. But I finally got to the Roositud tonight! I'm only a few rows in but I'm really enjoying it. You don't ever knit with the contrast colors -- you're just weave them in and out. How you deal with the yarn being at the left at the end of the patterned area is really ingenious! I continue to be wowed by the creative problem solving of knitters of yesteryear.

  

In case you can't tell, here are the 3 colors of Baby Ull that I'm using. Click on the right pic for a bigger view of the first few rows of Roositud (and disregard the stubble...Paul's in Seattle this week so I got a little lazy!). I still need to work on the tension a bit but I'm pretty happy with this for my first go at it.

I'll try to get some step-by-step roositud pics this weekend when I'm knitting during daylight hours.

Anu's Stocking

After reading Margene's post on Roositud I knew I had to try it out for myself. I had always thought it was simple embroidery, but now that I know it's a knitting technique, I'm all for it!

I'm doing Anu's Stockings from Folk Knitting in Estonia. I decided to do them cuff-down because I was feeling rather nostaligic. Never to leave a good pattern untouched though, I've decided to change up the colors and do something more fun. I have the other 2 colors picked out and I'll hopefully be able to show them to you by week's end (I don't get much knitting time during the week and I still have that birthday scarf to finish by Wednesday).

I have high hopes for these socks. I'll be teaching another sock knitting class in February and I'd love to wear them to the first class.

Sockapal2za Done!

I'm done and almost 2 weeks early. That's huge for me -- I'm such a procrastinator.

I hope they fit well. The lace makes them quite stretchy so I blocked it slightly stretched (there's lots of give in these socks). I still think this pattern would be nice as a scarf. Here's a closeup.

The Lorna's Laces is great to work with. I could easily knit this yarn without looking and only occasionally did I split the yarn.

Yardage-wise, I have almost 2/3rds of a hank left over. There's lots left and my LYS still has some of this color in stock. I'm tempted to buy another hank and make a different pair for myself, but I'm not particularly excited to knit with the same color. Maybe I should buy a complimentary color and stripe them?

Knitting them Toe-Up

A few of you asked how I knit these toe-up. This pattern was VERY easy to adapt to toe-up. Here are my mods.

CO 32 using figure 8 onto 2 circs. Knit one row.

Increase Row On each needle K1, inc 1, knit to within 1 stitch of edge, inc 1, K1.

After you have 52 sts (26 sts per needle), do an increase row followed by a plain row until there are 64 stitches total.

Knit 4 rows plain. I do this because I don't like the patterning to start that close to the toe. This is just my own personal preference.

Begin patterning Knit the wave pattern on one needle and knit the second needle plain. Knit this way until the sock is about 1.5 inches shorter than the foot.

Heel Do a short row heel until, keeping 16 sts unwrapped, and 8 sts wrapped on either side.

Begin Leg Continue knitting the pattern on one needle and st st on the other needle until you're at either a Row 1 or Row 11. Then knit the pattern across both needles.

Knit until the leg is the desired length. I knit 3.5 repeats.

Cuff I followed the scalloped edging chart, simply turning it upside down (knitting Row 14 first).

Cast off Cast off using your favorite stretchy cast off. I used EZ's sewn cast off.

A Good Motivator

I've been dutifully working on my projects with due dates ever since I wrote that post last week. I'm now halfway done with Sockapal2za sock two.

I'll definitely be done before the end of Labor Day Weekend -- a solid 2 weeks before the due date! Very excited -- I'm never this well-behaved.

I am still thinking a lot about Kepler. I ordered a color card from Chester Farms for their Cestari DK. I remembered seeing them at MDSW but I didn't have a need for them so I kept them in the back of my mind for just the right project.

I'm still not sure if it's the right yarn for this project, but I am positive I'll use this yarn at some point. It's a minimally-processed, lanolin-rich wool -- exactly what I had in mind. I'm just not sure if they have a color I want. I do like the blackberry color (in the center of this closeup). The pic is darker than it should be though, and it didn't pick up some of the pinky-reds that are in the yarn. This colorway has great depth and color variation.

I'm also strongly considering Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK. Again, a lovely yarn, great flecks of color, but the shades aren't grabbing me.

I'm not complaining though. I know the right inspiration will come, and I'll have more of these deadlines off my mind at that point.

Now That I Have A Plan...

OK, so it sounds like clear elastic and some good 1x1 ribbing is the way to go.

Anyone know where I can get some clear elastic?

I'm Getting There!

I'm done with the increases and I have 3 or 4 inches left on the knee high. The self-patterning did get narrower but I still think it looks OK.

Now I'm trying to decide how to finish off the top. The options I'm considering are:

• Keep knitting straight and do 1.5 inches of ribbing to finish it off
• Decrease some stitches the last couple of inches and then switch to ribbing, with the hope that the decreasing will help keep the socks up
• Knit in some elastic for the last few inches. Do they make clear elastic?

All you knee high experts out there -- what do you think?

Knitting on the Road

At work lately I've been doing mostly proposals, sales pitches, powerpoint presentations and marketing materials. It got me to thinking about all the cheesy things people say and all the silly abbreviations they make up when trying to sell something, and well, since I haven't had much time to knit I thought I'd make up this post instead.

In our busy world we're always striving to find time savers and shortcuts. As a value-added service to my readers I've compiled this short list of suggestions.

Use them in good health.

Ahhh the open road. The fresh air. The blue skies. The radio tuned to your favorite station. The peaceful hum of the engine motoring along.

I'm sure many of you have taken road trips and knitted while someone else drives. It's a great, relaxing way to spend the time. Small projects like socks and mittens are portable, lightweight, and afford you with plenty of opportunity for conversation and sight-seeing.

But it doesn't have to end there. With just a few simple steps you too can expand your Knitting on the Road opportunities to include times when you don't have someone else to take on the driving responsibility.

Yarn storage and placement A clear zip-top bag is recommended for safe transport and to maximize placement opportunities. We recommend placing the bag by simply dropping it on the floor of the driver's side to allow for the yarn to feed in from the left side.

Keeping the project in waiting on the passenger seat ensures a rapid implementation opportunity (RIO).

Traffic Jams be Damned Beginning KOTRers will often start with the simplest form of KOTR -- knitting while in a traffic jam. Once reserved for only the major accident or weather event, we recommend expanding your knitting time by considering KOTR while at a traffic light, waiting for school kids to cross the road, or anytime you find yourself approaching 0 mph.

  

Implementing these opportunities afford you with the chance to learn new ways to hold your knitting. When unexpectedly faced with moving traffic mid-row, simply slip the needles toward the center (2 inches per needle is advised), criss cross the needles, and secure them with your thumb and forefinger. If you don't have time to gingerly place the item on the passenger seat, simply steer with your middle, ring and pinky fingers, as depicted above.

You may be asking yourself if this is a safe practice. We here at savannahchikKnits ask you -- is this any less safe than driving over the speed limit?

   

Endless Ingenious Exploration of Impactful Opportunities (EIEIO) Think out of the box! Filling up at the pump and waiting in a drive thru line provide seconds -- if not minutes -- of knitting time per event.

Manual Transmission Woes? No more! With a few simple steps we'll have you KOTR to your full potential in no time.

While waiting at a red light always keep it in first gear so you can react at a moment's notice.

And, while driving in stop-and-go traffic, avoid shifting when at all possible. Ride the clutch, and even start in second gear.

As an added bonus, your left leg muscles will develop more, and you'll be better at starting the car on snow.

And for the true road warrior, there's K70. That's right, with a little practice you too can be knitting while driving over the speed limit. We recommend proper following distance and being able to knit while not looking at or touching the yarn. With concentrated effort you should be able to master this skill in a matter of moments a day.

Safety is always our primary concern here at savannahchik knits. We recommend you briefly put down the needles and speed past any vehicles exhibiting signs such as the ones above.

We're excited to share this opportunity with you and look forward to hearing your great progress.

Knit on!

Afterthought Heel

In yesterday's comments, Melanie asked what an afterthought heel was.

Rather than just respond to her, I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else was curious too.

An afterthought heel is a heel that's knitted into the sock after the sock has been knitted.

OK, I know the sock that I posted yesterday isn't done. Bear with me and all will be revealed.

Basically, you knit the sock to the point where the heel should begin. Then, instead of knitting the heel, you take some waste yarn (preferably in the same weight and different color as the sock) and knit half a row in the waste yarn.

Then, you go back to where you started knitting in the waste yarn, and just continue on knitting like normal, with the actual sock yarn. Meaning, the next half row will be knitted directly ON TOP OF the waste yarn you just knitted.

Now, traditionally you'd just knit the rest of the sock first, and then come back and do the heel. I only knit a couple of inches of the leg before going back. I wanted to be able to continue to try on my sock since I'm making knee highs and fit is important.

In other words, I can't fit myself with a heel-less knee high tube sock.

So, after knitting a couple inches on the leg, I went back to that waste yarn.

I took 2 needles and pulled the waste yarn out 1 stitch at a time. You actually need to thread the yarn back out of the stitches. The yarn comes out of a leg stitch, then out of a foot stitch, and continues doing this until you've reached the end of the waste yarn. As each stitch is revealed, I put it on one of the needles. When I was done I had the same number of stitches on each of the 2 needles, and the total number (adding up the stitches on both needles)was equal to the total number of leg stitches.

Now that I had all my stitches on my needles I knit a plain row first for setup. Then I began knitting a basic decrease every other row toe. Yes, I said toe.

I knit this way until I had decreased half the total number of stitches.

Following me? OK, that's a lot of math without any real numbers, so here are the specifics for my sock.

The foot has a total of 64 stitches.

I knit 32 stitches in waste yarn

When I went back and pulled the yarn out, I had picked up 32 stitches on each of the 2 needles.

I then knit a plain row.

Then I began knitting a decrease every 2 rows toe.

When I had 16 stitches left on each needle (meaning I had knit a total of 16 rows -- 8 plain, and 8 decrease), I grafted the remaining stitches together.

It was a very fast heel and as a bonus, if the heel ever wears out I can easily take it out and replace it. And since these are big honkin' knee highs, that's a good thing.

In case my description wasn't helpful (and I didn't post pics since I didn't take any while knitting it because I was too obsessed with watching Alias on DVD), socknitters has a good article on afterthought heels (with pics no less!) as well. Go check it out.

Added later: Susan suggested a star heel as a better alternative because it more closely resembles the actual shape of a heel. She left a link to Dawn Brocco's site for instructions.

Thanks, Susan!

New Knitalong in Town

I need to join another KAL like I need a hole in my head. But I couldn't resist joining the new Knitting on the Road KAL.

I've had the book for quite a while and I've yet to make a pair of socks from it. I'd knit almost any pair out of that book (with a couple of exceptions) so I thought it was safe enough to join.

The way it works -- we'll be knitting a pair of socks from the book every 2 months, with the first sock starting August 1st. A poll has been setup for us to vote on a sock and on August 1st the poll will close and we'll have our pattern picked for us. Right now Whitby and Friday Harbor are winning.

So come join us!

Oh, and thanks to Jessica for pointing this out.

How Do You Knit Socks?

Although I spent most of my weekend working on the house (more to come on this in a later post) I was able to get in some knitting time on Sunday afternoon.

This is my pretty basic sock, but I did an afterthought heel instead of a short row heel. I wanted the colors to form a nice circle instead of awkwardly butting up against each other.

Changing up the heel got me thinking about all the different ways one can knit a simple pair of socks. Here are my preferences:

Toe-up or Cuff-down: Hands down it's toe-up

Needles: 2 24" Addi Turbos. I love the feeling of bamboo but I prefer the way my knitting looks with 2 circs (and I think it's easier to try them on with the circs too).

Length: I've been doing the leg as long as my foot, but lately I've been thinking I'd like to go higher. Doing that will require me to do a few increases though -- my big calves short legs won't let me go any longer without widening the cuff as well.

Toe: Figure 8 without a slip knot. This lets me go back and tighten up the cast on after I've knit the toe.

Heel: Short row. I used to prefer a no-wrap short row, but I've recently noticed that my short rows look better with the wraps. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but it does seem true for me.

Cast-off: I typically go for the Sewn cast off but it is S-L-O-W. I'm definitely open to other possibilities here (and no, Margene, knitting them cuff-down is not a possibility!)

Peeves: Spiraling (Lorna's Laces and others), knitting the yarn too loosely so it doesn't fit well and doesn't wear well, and anklets. I know I won't win any popularity contests about the anklets, but I hate em! They remind me of this awkward time in grammar school and I just can't wear them because of that. Silly, yes. But keep those damn anklets away from me.

Ahh, I feel better now.

So, what do you like to do?

Feel free to share whatever comes to mind -- great techniques...favorite yarns...wonderful patterns...horror stories. And don't be shy! De-lurkers are encouraged to comment (so yeah, that means you!). Include links if you have them and if there are enough I'll pull them together into a follow up post for all of us to use.

Do I Have To Give This One Away?

I love love love this little sock! The pattern is the perfect blend of "not-just-boring-ribbing" yet "easy-enough-to-memorize" to keep it interesting.

The Lorna's Laces is such a pleasure to knit up. I wish their multi-colored hanks didn't pool like they do. My brain just can't handle all that uncontrollable color!

As for the length, I decided to keep it at the length suggested in the pattern. If I made them any longer they would have hit part of my calf where they'd need to be increased. I know I'm short but I don't know my sock pal's height so I figured better be safe than sorry.

The mods I made are simple:

• Toe-up with a figure 8 cast on. I increased every row until I hit 85% of the total stitches, and then switched to every other row.
• Classic wrap short row heel. Yes, you read that correctly. I didn't do the no-wrap heel. The problem I have with picking up the wraps is finding them in darker colors, which clearly isn't a problem in lavender colored socks. And I have to admit that I think the wraps are just a tad tighter than the other methods.
• I did the wavy top and all I needed to do was turn the chart upside down and follow it that way. I bound off with EZ's sewn cast off. Not only is it stretchy but it's the cleanest way I know to join the last row and make it look smooth. If you're scared of the sewn cast off -- don't be. It's as easy as p2tog, k1. Seriously. Give it a try.

I still have to wash the sock but I'm going to hold off until I finish the second one. I don't want to try and match up unwashed measurements against washed measurements.

As for the stitch pattern, I don't think this is the end of this pattern for me. I'm considering making a scarf out of it. The back side -- while completely different -- is also pretty, so it would work well for a reversible scarf. And once it's blocked out I think it looks a bit like flowing water. I'm considering using the blue silk I bought at MDSW even though I've already started this scarf with it.

The blue color always said water to me, but I searched and searched my stitch pattern books and couldn't find the right one for it. I wanted something to go longways but I didn't want to knit it longways. This waving lace pattern may be the way to go after all.

Girly Socks

In what's turning out to be the status quo for this sock, I ripped out the first few rows of foot patterning last night to try something different. I didn't really like the way the 4 rows of K1, P1 alternating with P1, K1 was looking. It felt too hard and structured for a girly pink sock with hearts on it.

While I was at it, I realized that the hearts in the Regia pattern that inspired my socks were 24 stitches wide. That's half the stitches of my entire sock! So I needed to rework the heart anyway.

This is my attempt to start the heart patterning on the foot. See the half-hearts on each side? To make up the space in the middle I put in some little diamonds. What do you think? I really like it. Plus, those diamonds will come in really handy when I get to the calf increase section.

This Louet Gems at 6 spi knits up really fast. By the time I finished charting and recharting the cables it was close to 10 o'clock, yet I still got in a good few inches of foot before going to bed a little after 11.

This'll come in really handy when I knit on what I'm sure will feel like the neverending calf.

It's all about the process...

I spent a lot of time knitting this weekend. I don't have a lot to show for it.

But I'm not frustrated (surprisingly!).

I've been really wanting to make myself a pair of knee highs from Regia Inspiration 32.

Last summer I started out making 4332, but it just wasn't meant to be. I still like the pattern but I don't want to knit it now.

So I picked up some Louet Gems Opal in Pink Panther from my LYS on Sunday. I picked pattern 4334 -- it has hearts going up the outside of the socks. I figure if they're going to be pink they might as well have hearts on them too.

The yarn is a heavier weight than what's called for in the pattern so I did some math and cast on. I knit through the ribbing and tried it on. Waaaaaay too big.

So I ripped and tried again. This time I knit through the ribbing and the first 6 rows of the patterning. Tried it on again. Guess what? Still too big. Not huge though. It was big, but in a way that had me negotiating with myself. Is it really too big? What if I thread through some clear elastic thread when I'm done? Knee highs always slip down anyway.

But in the end I ripped that start too. While I was at it I decided to do them toe-up. I like toe-up so much better. I know how big the feet should be, and this way I'll just follow EZ's method for making knee highs (or as she refers to them -- stockings). Doesn't stockings sound more refined than knee highs? Or is it me? I hear knee high and I think grandmas in house dresses with socks rolled down to the ankles.

Hmmm, still with me?

Good. Here are a few pics then:

attempt #2 It's so wide I have to hold it sideways across my thigh.	attempt #3 This might just be the best toe I've ever knitted

See that toe? Pure glory, I tell ya. I think I finally got it (rounded toes, that is). Here's what I did:

First, you need to know roughly what gauge you're going to get. I knew for my gauge I'd have to have 48 stitches around the foot.

So, cast on half the total stitches (in my case, 24). I use the figure 8 toe. An important note here is that I also use 2 circs. I love figure 8 with circs. I abhor figure 8 with DPNs.

Another important note is that figure 8 looks really wonky when you knit the first row. Don't sweat it though! After I knit the whole toe I go back and work out the excess yarn toward the yarn tail.

Oh yeah, about that yarn tail. I don't start with a slip knot. If you do you'll have a problem working the excess out to the end. So I simply put the yarn over the needle and twist the ends around each other below the needle. Then I hold onto the free end with my right hand while I figure 8 with the left. I'm not sure if that makes sense. Should I take a pic for next time?

OK, so once I've cast on half the stitches I knit 1 row plain. So, still 24 stitches.

Then, I start the increases on every row. It's the basic toe increases, but no plain rows in between. I increase 1 stitch in from the edge of each needle.

What kind of increase to use? I like the look of backward loop the best. BUT. I really don't like struggling with knitting into the backward loops on the next rows. So recently I've started this. When I need to do the increase I do a plain old everyday YO in its place. Then, when I get to the point where I need to knit that YO, I knit it twisted, which creates the same kind of stitch as the backward loop method. It works better for me. If you're fine with backward loop knitting just stick with it. Whatever works.

Now, I keep increasing on every row until I have about 85% of the total stitches needed. In this example I stopped at 40 stitches. Then, I went to the classic knit a plain row, knit an increase row. When I got to 48 I was done.

This made my nicely rounded toe. Since I was increasing faster, it also made a shallow toe, which didn't even quite get to the base of my pinky toe. So, even though my sock foot has patterning on it I did another 4 plain rows before starting the patterning.

Once I got to that point I started my patterning, which is 4 rows of K1tbl, P1 followed by 4 rows of P1, K1tbl. I love K1tbl -- so neat and tidy.

Some of you may be wondering what I'm going to be doing about those cables since the chart was written going down the leg. Those of you who know me know I won't be putting upside down hearts on them. My theory is that if I put the chart upside down it will work. There are no special increase or decrease rows in the chart (everything is just cables or travelling stitches) so I think this will work.

And if it doesn't? Well, it'll just be another chapter in the neverending saga to knit a cabled knee high stocking.

Fini!

all done!

These socks were such a pleasure to knit up! It's the first time I've knit a sock with cotton in it.

Yarn

Regia Cotton Surf. They come in big 100g balls and I have about 7 grams leftover. The yarn has about 40% wool in it which gives it a nice resiliency and stretch, but the cotton makes it lighter weight and less warm -- perfect for in between season wearings.

Matching the Stripes

After posting earlier in the week about those great matching stripes, many of you asked if I had any hints on how to do it. Here's what I did:

When I started sock 1, I purposely cast on starting at the very beginning of an orange color change. At this point I didn't know what the stripe repeats looked like, so I just pulled the yarn out until the first color change.

I knit up sock 1 without any concern over how the stripes were laying out. But, After several inches it was clear that the yarn had a 9-stripe repeat. Every 9 stripes started over with the same color and width sequence. It's important to note that not all sock yarns are so predictable. Here's a pic of the socks side-by-side. Can you see the 9-stripe repeat?

Then when it was time to knit sock 2 I pulled the yarn out of the ball until I reached an orange spot. I knew I needed a longer orange chunk followed by a shorter orange chunk. I found the start of an orange stripe and then kept pulling out until I found the next one. Once I found the longer stripe followed by the shorter stripe I knew where to start. I then started the sock exactly the same way I started sock 1.

Honestly, I didn't expect the socks would match up as well as they did! The Cotton Surf is VERY consistent and that made all the difference. Consistent gauge helps too, but if the yarn didn't repeat so well it wouldn't have mattered.

Washing the Sock

You may have noticed in last week's pic that there was a ridge along the center of the sock. This was where the 2 circs met. I had never had that happen on wool socks before and I wasn't sure if it would relax. But it did! If you look at the top pic it's completely gone.

Picot Edge Hem

I did end up pulling out the first hem. I went with Marnie's suggestion of Kitchnering it. There's a great illustration in Montse Stanley's book on how to Kitchner a hem in place. It's similar to kitchnering garter stitch. I was S-L-O-W but it worked -- took about 1.5 hours per sock! And it's as stretchy as the rest of the sock.

Pattern

Just a regular old toe-up with short row heel. I used a figure 8 toe with no slip knot so I could go back and pull it tighter once I had knit a few inches. I made the sock 10% smaller in width than my sock pal's foot, and I reduced the leg by 8 stitches about an inch above the heel because it seemed too wide for sock legs. I did a basic YO K2tog picot edge, followed with 4 or 5 rows of stockinette, and then the Kitchner hem.

Perfect Match

ooooh -- identical twins!!!

Halfway There

The first one is done -- finally! I tell ya, knitting for a knitter is about as challenging as it gets. Every step of the way I've stopped and asked myself "Does this look OK?".

I played with gauge and swapped down a needle size. I did the toe 3 times before settling on one I liked. Then I started on the foot and decided it needed an extra increase round. I mucked around with stitch patterns and ribbings on the foot and the leg. And when all is said and done I stuck with plain stockinette. Why? I think the stripes do it all. I tried a chevron design but it just wasn't doing it for me. Maybe if the stripes were uniform. Or thinner.

I did finish off the top with a little picot edge. Just your basic YO K2tog, and then I did another 5 rounds of stockinette before binding off. Actually, binding off isn't the right word. I never bound off the stitches. I just sewed one live stitch to the purl bump of the matching row 5 rows down.

Once done sewing I stretched the top and I could feel the sewn row. So I gently worked more of the yarn through that row and it feels better now. But it looks a little fluted. A Regia booklet I have suggests pulling through a length of 1/4" elastic through the hem. What do you think? Any other suggestions?

The Yarn

I still love working with the Regia Cotton Surf. It has a healthy amount of wool in it (around 40% I believe) but enough cotton to make it feel lightweight. The ballband suggests 7.5 spi but I increased it up to 8 and I like it better. Those of you who read my blog often know by now that I tend to knit socks tighter than the specified gauge. It gives a more substantial and solid feeling to the sock and increases durability as well.

The one slight negative I'd say about this yarn is that the plies do not stick together as closely as I like. I suspect this is because it's only 40% wool. When doing decreases I had to pay attention or I'd lose a ply here and there. It's very manageable though and hasn't swayed my appreciation of the yarn. I bought this ball last year at MWSW and I will be on the lookout for any other colorways I like this year.

Yardage

Last week I posted about how I split the jumbo ball into 2 balls (one for each sock). I read somewhere that a good rule of thumb is to make the leg as long as the foot. I knit until I hit that point and then continued a bit until I found a good stopping point in the stripes. I wanted the picot edge to be fairly solid. I weighed the sock when done and it weighed 46 grams. 2 grams leftover, which looks to be enough for another inch or two. So I'd say the yardage on this yarn is generous and should do well even if you did use a stitch pattern that ate up the yarn.

Sockapalooza is on its Way!

Christy hit the nail on the head when she said that I'm a ponderer. I've gone through 2 yarns and 5 patterns in order to settle on my sockapalooza sock.

I decided to go with Regia Cotton Surf in a bright stripe of yellow, orange, and dark pink.

Cotton Surf comes in big 100 g skeins (enough for a pair). I like the idea of only needing one skein, but I always feel cheated because I never know quite how much to use. After reading Sara's great post last week about a scale being your third most important yarn tool I decided to finally buy myself a postal scale. What fun! I weighed the ball (98 grams*), and wound off 48 grams (slightly less than half) onto my winder.

  

I've started the sock with the half I wound, knowing that even if my weights are off slightly I should definitely have a little less on the wound half than the half left in the skein.

Here's my progress as of last night.

I had a few false starts with this sock. I started with US 3's and had to go down to US 2's to get a good fabric. Now that I"m on the 2's I love the way the yarn feels! I picked the cotton since warm weather is on its way and I thought my pal would be able to use them more often in the cotton. The Cotton Surf is a superwash so they're easy care.

* Curious why the skein only weighed 98 grams instead of 100? Yarn weights can vary depending on atmospheric conditions. Yarn retains water, so if it's dry out (like now in the middle of winter with the heat blasting) the yarn will probably weigh a little less than say, August when it's 80% humid. To account for this you'll sometimes see "under standard conditions" listed on the ball band.

ps - If you haven't already done so, go see Vicki's amazing St. Brigid. It's gorgeous!

The socks are done!

Specs

Pattern: No real pattern. Tubular cast on, an inch of 1x1 rib, 5 inches of 2x2 rib, plain stockinette for an inch, Japanese short-row heel and a basic toe with the last few decreases done every row.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease
Gauge: 5.5 spi -- much tighter than what's specified. This makes a nice dense sock that's still cushy and warm.
Needles: 2 Addi Turbo 4 mm (US #6) Circulars

They're warm. I'm a happy knitter!

Mariah

The official kickoff for the KAL was yesterday. I've done about 4 inches on the sleeve but something is bothering me. The pattern specifies keeping the selvedge stitches in garter. I don't usually do this but I thought I'd give it a try. I don't like the look though.

Then I realized this may actually make mattress stitching much more difficult -- right? So, I'm considered frogging this bit of progress and just doing a regular selvedge. If anyone has a better idea or a comment on the garter edge please let me know.

Blocking Wires

So I'm defintiely obsessed with lace now, and it's no longer a question of when I'll start another lace project but rather which one. I don't think I'll last past this weekend!

Since I had trouble finding a large enough spot for the Hanging Vines scarf I was considering blocking wires. But the longest wire I could find is 36 inches. Do you overlap them when the item is longer? I've searched around the major lace knitting sites I knew of -- Heartstrings and Fiddlesticks for example -- as well as checking out A Gathering of Lace. I can't find any example of blocking larger scale pieces with the wires. Is there a better way?

One Down

I finished the first sock last night.

A couple of notes:

• I used the Ozyarn no-wrap short row heel. Big surprise, eh?
• I used a much tighter gauge than what is specified for Wool-Ease. The ball band says 4.5 spi, but I did 5.5. Why? Wool-Ease feels rather loosely spun and I thought the sock would be more durable if I knitted it a little tighter. I'm very happy with the texture of the sock. It's still squishy but it has a lot of body
• I did a modified toe. I did a few sets of decrease every other row, but then I switched to decreasing every row. This made a nicely rounded toe, and may be my favorite looking toe so far. Here's a pic.

So, it looks like I'm safe for goal number 1 -- finish the pair by Friday.

Circular Needle Kinks

One of the Addi Turbos I've been using for the sock had a bad kink in the cable that never seemed to relax. It was slowing my knitting down because it would curl around the other needle and the yarn and make everything into a tangled mess. So last night I dropped the needle in a pot of simmering water. I left them in there for maybe 15 seconds, and used a pair of tongs to pull them out. And voila!

Perfectly relaxed cables!

A note of warning -- make sure you don't let the cable hit the side of the pot. The first one hit the hot edge for just a second and it had a small abrasion on it. I smoothed it out with an emery board so it's OK, but a few more seconds and it wouldn't have been pretty!

Blocking Board

When I posted the pic of the completed sweater, I was silly enough to think you all would be impressed with all that knitting! But it was the blocking board that stole the show. I've responded to everyone who left a comment asking about it, but since it was so popular I thought I'd post it here as well.

The board came from yarn-store.com. It was $78 plus shipping, and it took about 2 weeks to arrive. It folds in half and is pretty easily stored behind a sofa, large piece of furniture or under a bed.

I like to block my pieces under a ceiling fan because it significantly reduces drying time. Since the only room in the house with a ceiling fan does not have a table in it, I place the board on my ironing board. It's portable and easy to set up, and is steady enough for me to lean in and pin on it.