Still here

Outside activities have overwhelmed yarn time, so while I still knit a bit everyday, not much progress is being made.

Memorial Day weekend was also Women's Weekend, and the yarn I ordered from Webs arrived in time for me to start on the Slouch from Mother-Daughter Knits as my mindless stockinette project.



I'm glad I went with the Classic Elite Duchess, as it has less bounce and should not stretch like an all-wool yarn might. My daughter picked out "Genteel Gray" but the resulting fabric resembles sweatshirt material. Maybe the requisite ribbon will dress it up a bit.

The Crosswalker socks grow by an inch or two a day, as they are my lunchtime knit. I like this colorway - the lighter colors are less muddy than the ones in the colorway I used for the Dublin Bay socks. I'm glad I did not attempt to match stripes, as I have come across one splice already. Besides, I like working from both ends of the skein.



And I'm liking the pattern - easy plus another eye of partridge heel - but because it was written to allow for personal modifications, the directions get a bit vague once you reach the turning of the heel. But I'll figure it out.

Spring forward

I did not blog much about the knitting of the Spring Forward socks because there was not much to blog about. No pattern issues, no yarn issues, no knitter issues.



Pattern: Spring Forward from knitty
Yarn: Yarn Daze "Lucerne"
Needles: US1 DPNs
Modifications: None



The two socks weighed in within one gram of each other, with ten grams of yarn left over. No sweat!

I already started the next pair of socks - I'm on a roll - Crosswalker using more of the Online sock yarn I bought on sale. Since my last attempt to match stripes was a big FAIL, I am not even going to try.

Summer (knitting) reading

I love our local library system. Money is tight these days, but whenever I find a book they don't have but I think they should, they honor my request. This gives me a chance to try before I buy, or not buy, as the case may be.

Recent perusals include the following:



I didn't find much in Mother-Daughter Knits to excite me patternwise, but the book includes an extensive section on fit. Now, if I only had a waist.

When I first started knitting again, I bought Vogue Knitting, but frequently when I reference it, I just get confused and frustrated.



While A to Z of Knitting is not as extensive as the Vogue book, it is easier to follow. Photos galore, but no patterns.

Lately, I have found myself concentrating on sock knitting. I checked two of the following three out of the library, but finally just broke down and bought them.



Cookie A's book makes me feel a bit tired because it is so chockful of mindbending ideas. Heavy on sock design.



Lots of good ideas from Carol Sulcoski, more than I could absorb in three weeks. I'm a sucker for variegated sock yarn and need help with patterns ideas.



I am still bound and determined to learn toe-up sock knitting. Clara Parker recently reviewed Wendy Johnson's book, so I purchased it sight unseen.

Speaking of socks, the Spring Forward socks are progressing nicely. Like all lace patterns, they leave me anxious to see them blocked.

February Lady stalled while I played with cotton dishrags. After my initial success with the variegated blues, I tried knitting up some with bolder color variations, but did not like the results so there is nothing to show. And now I am tired of cotton.

Next weekend is Women's Weekend, so I need something somewhat mindless that I can work on while chatting (I'm not good at multitasking!) There is a super-easy "slouch" in Mother-Daughter Knits that my daughter likes, but it may require a yarn purchase. Heh.

Thief

(I read about this idea on another blog, but I can't remember where and I'm too lazy to go searching for it.)

Variegated yarn is quick to catch my eye, but I am frequently frustrated with the knitted results. A while back, I purchased several balls (and cones!) of multicolored and variegated cotton, but have been lukewarm toward the baby bibs, burp rags, and dishcloths produced with it.

Enter the ballband warshrag.



Knitting the "mortar" with a contrasting solid does the trick!

(Please ignore the boo-boos in this project - wabi sabi!)

Radio silence broken

Sorry for the dearth of posts - my laptop was "busy" with some background thing that was affecting browser speed. I removed a couple of IE add-ons and now things are much smoother.

I finished the Dublin Bay socks.



Pattern: Dublin Bay Socks from Mossy Cottage
Yarn: Online Supersocke 100
Colorway: 1054
Needles: US 1
Pattern modifications: none to speak of

The pattern was well-written and easy to follow, and easy to knit. I needed something simple to knit, and this filled the bill, but by the time I finished, I was tired of stockinette.

If I had paid attention to the gauge, I would have dropped a needle size, as these came out kind of big. But I have big feet, so no problem.

I did add a couple of gusset stitches to eliminate any gapping, plus I have a fetish about making the heel flap the exact number of rows to match the stitches to be picked up for the gusset.

I particularly like how the "eye of partridge" heel stitch compliments the trellis lace.



As much as I liked the pattern, the yarn was a different matter. I'm not a fan of wool/polyamid - it feels thin to me - but most of my unhappiness springs from the splices. By the time I finished, sock #2 had THREE splices, which totally threw off my attempts to match stripes. I bought the yarn on sale, and now I am wondering if the manufacturer was where the sale price originated; if so, the yarn should have been marked "irregular" or something.

Meanwhile, the February Lady sweater marches on, and I started a new pair of socks, Spring Forward from knitty. To make up for the big Dublin Bay socks, these are knitting up kind of tight, but I think it is just me.