Socks and Scarves

All the podcasts I’ve been listening to is talking about socks! I just can’t get away from it. Am I being persecuted or convicted for ignoring my Dad’s tofutsies socks. I just can’t get in to it. I’ve decided I really hate the yarn and color. Yet, I don’t have the heart to rip them out. I had both cuffs and legs done and started the heel and picked up the stitches for the gusset too loosely and had to frog to the heal flap because this yarn does not have memory( or stretchy bounce back). I haven’t touched them since then. I am trying to get up the courage to pick them up again.



I decided to get out all the sock yarn I have around the house, hoping it would inspire me to finish Dad’s socks. It certainly has been calling to me. What kind should I make next? Perhaps, what I need is a really easy but creative pattern to keep me interested. Plain 2x2 ribbing is just not inspiring enough for me. Soo…I went to the shopping Mall, and stopped at Borders. Lo and behold, I saw new book “Knitted Socks” by Anna Tillman. It has so many cute patterns I am drooling to make. My granddaughter would love the penguin and lady bug socks. There’s a very nice anklet with appliquéd little knitted strawberries on the ankle that my future daughter-in-law might like. There some socks with toes for flip flop wearers, intarsia pig socks, fair isle patterns and felted booties. There is even a pattern for felted jester boots. Wouldn’t my son’s roommate like those? Well, needless to say I am inspired.

So I am struggling with the decision to cast on something new or get out the Tofutsies to finish them to free up my sock needles. I just have too many projects on the needles. I am wanting the feeling of finishing something. I need to feel I’ve accomplished something so I can move on.

I also have been working on my candlelight scarf. We’ve been hit with a heat wave in the 90’s and I am making a scarf. Am I crazy or what? I guess it is the only mundane knitting I have at the moment. I have about 2 feet done and am about to start the 2nd skein. I am thinking 4 ft will be enough for this scarf. It is beautiful and soft. It will make a nice fall scarf. I am tempted to have a race with myself to get the next 2 ft done in 7 days. Can I do it? It has taken me 5 months to get 2 feet done and am I being crazy to think I can finish it in “1” week?

Hmmmm…..let’s see. That’s about 3 ½ inches a day, 8 rows to 1 inch, which is 28 rows a day. Ready, Set, Go!!

A Bit of Nostalgia

I was cleaning out some things and discovered a project from 30 years ago. When I was expecting my first child I started this needlepoint sampler. By the time he turned two, I somewhat finished it but did not have the money to get it professionally framed. I put it in a frame masking taping (big mistake) to a big piece of cardboard. My granddaughter will be turning 2 in August. I was thinking that she might get some use out of it (provided her mom wanted it) to teach her some words. This sampler taught all my three sons, who are now adults. It was made for her daddy and I am hoping it could be passed on to her grandchildren if it lasts that long. It is made of wool needlepoint thread and so I washed it gently with fiberwash and blocked it. I am planning to have it professionally framed so it can be protected for generations.

My Smiley’s yarn order has arrived! It is so nice!!! I just love the $2.50 sock yarn I forgot I ordered. I’ve got to get those Tofutsies socks finished! I am also dreaming of colorways I want to dye the cotton yarn and can’t wait to knit with it.

Instant Gratification

I think its time for me to step down from my political knitting soapbox, and think about my actual knitting rather than technique in the Eastern style. Spring is trying to show its sunny fresh side and something is happening to me. Suddenly, all I want to do is small quick projects. After finishing the Medallion Capelet, I have a need for instant gratification and satisfaction by finishing some quick projects.

I felt that my cape needed some accessories, so I used the stitch pattern from the collar to quickly make a hat to go with it. If I can manage it, I will try to make a written pattern to share it. It knit up very quickly and fit nicely. I liked it so much I started to make a green one to match my Zimmerman rib warmer.

I have an update of my Dad’s socks made with Tofutsies. I was going to frog them because the 2x2 rib was so boring, but the more I looked at them, the more I felt this would be best for him. He has had heart surgery in the past and occasionally gets swollen ankles. He also tends to get foot infections so I wanted to knit socks that would not be too tight with a little give but snug to stay on. I decided to resume them but I think I will make the ankles longer. I hope I have enough yarn. I’m almost up to the heel.

I haven’t worked on the Hemlock Blanket, but am feeling like I need to finish it and get it over with. Feather and Fan stitch is just not my cup of tea.

I was scanning Ravelry and discovered a really nice French Market Bag pattern that is felted. I thought this would be great for the Patons Classic Wool I had just ordered from Smileys Yarns. It has become my takealong knitting as it doesn’t take took much concentration.

I joined the Unraveled group in Ravelry and they are doing a Knit Along Celtic Bag tote, which is an intricately cabeled felted bag. This pattern intrigued me and gave me a challenge to make. I bought the yarn last Saturday at Unraveled in Monrovia, Lamb’s Pride Worsted in an Oatmeal color. I also took advantage of their 15% off sale on Koigu! I have always dreamed of getting some of this but it seemed so pricey. It didn’t seem as painful getting a discount, so I bought 3 skeins of Koigu in pinks, reds and purples. I haven’t yet decided what I will make with it.
Getting back to the Celtic tote, I casted on yesterday. I’m a little rusty on doing cables. Twenty years ago I made my husband a Aran vest with cables but I had forgotten a lot how to make them. I discovered a video on the Unraveled website that was very helpful in demonstrating some of the difficult stitches and had excellent techniques how to read a chart. One of those tips was to color code the different cable stitches and this has saved multitudes of frustration.

The Magic Loop: to loop or not to loop?

I have been reading in my Elizabeth’s Year Yahoo knitting group that some of the members have purchased the booklet “The Magic Loop” to learn how to knit their leggings from Knitter's Almanac using the magic loop method.

I have long been comfortable knitting socks on double pointed needles. Although there were are lot of needles (4) to manipulate, I knit a fairly snug stitch and rarely have trouble with needles falling out. I did occasionally have a stitch or two fall out, which was easily corrected.

Being the self-motivated learner that I am, I made the decision to some day learn to knit on circular needles, so that I could knit two socks at one time. I seriously suffer the from the “2nd sock syndrome” which is not wanting to start or complete the second sock once the first is finish. I struggled with this for a long time. This is why I do not make too many socks. Soo….this summer in Oakland at Knit and Crochet show I watched the demo videos being sold on knitting with two circular needles, and thought I would have a try.

It was a total disaster. I started the simple pair of socks with Trekking XXL on Size two needles. I dropped stitches on the first row and restarted. Dealing with all those wires were just too much for me. I pulled it out and restarted for a third time, and finally gave up. I concluded that if I couldn’t tackle two circulars, how in the world would I do with one extra long one.

Recently, the buzz in the forum has again been about the magic loop and how magical it is. Some have been saying that it was so easy after 5 minutes of practice and may never go back to dpn’s again. Sooo…I gathered up my courage and ordered the book “The Magic Loop”.

The book came yesterday. It so happened that I had purchased a size 5 40” circular Addi turbo (Insert you own sound effect here, {wink, Brenda Dayne} needle in Oakland to make a shawl. I thought that perhaps I needed to start out with a larger yarn. I cast on to make some easy knitted cuffs. After 5 minutes, I, too, fell in love. I am still asking myself why I didn’t learn how to do this sooner? I also found a Youtube video that demonstrated the technique: The Magic Loop.

Here is some of my beginning efforts.

Well, I couldn’t stop there…. I had started some socks for my dad with Tofutsies on size 2 needle a few weeks ago. These socks were started on dpns and were very slow going. The yarn just doesn’t seem to have much elasticity and knits more like cotton so my stitches have been very slow going. My old 29+++ eyes are having more trouble seeing these tiny stitches so I have to be careful not to drop any stitches.

After somewhat mastering magic loop on the cuffs, I decided to take the plunge and try the socks. I used the other end of the skein to cast on, since I only purchased one ball of Tofustsies of 400 yds. It is really going well and faster than using dpns. I don’t have to be afraid to lay these down and worry that a stitch will slip off. Stitches slipping off two needle ends is less likely than 6 ends. As soon as I get to the same length as the other sock I will put them both on the one circular needles and try two socks at a time. I just can’t wait. This is going to be fun!!

Something Old, and Something New

I promised you I would share about my knitting and Ravelry. Well, here goes…..

My husband and I had a very nice time driving up Interstate 5 past the orchards of almonds and fields of cotton, corn and cows, to Oakland. I knitted along the way working on my orange Wishbone sweater. I was able to knit up to the armpits and part of one arm when we arrived in Oakland seven hours later. Working with Size 11 needles makes this project go very quickly, but soon I tired of doing only stockinette stitch.

I had packed several knitting projects with me. When I was able to focus and concentrate, I worked on my Candlelight shawl. This lace pattern takes my whole concentration. I am knitting it on Size 4 needles and I had wished I had brought my magnifying glass with me. It just doesn’t seem fair to loose our sight with old age eyes, as we get older. This is when we finally have time to sit and actually do some needlework. I am finding it harder to knit with small needles, no matter how often I change my prescription of my glasses.

I also brought with me my baby surprise jacket and started to knit a hood on it. Everywhere I go, I get many compliments on it. The colors are so bold and jeweled. I am trying to add the hood without a pattern and am guessing the size of my granddaughters head. I am trying to decide whether to add a drawstring so that she can grow into it. Someone commented to me that it is a shame that for all the trouble we take to knit baby clothes, they grow so fast and cannot wear it for long. How true is that? I guess it’s the love and care of making and giving the gift that makes it special no matter how often they get to wear it.

I started the Tofutsies socks with the yarn I purchased at the Knit and Crochet show, for my Dad. I am knitting a k2 P2 ribbing. I didn’t get very far in this because my husband got sick on the way home (we suspect food poisoning), and so I had to drive home. I did, however, see some hundreds of sheep on the way home and actually picked a couple of bolls of cotton to see if I could spin it.

I brought my laptop with us on our trip and was very pleased to have some occasional wireless access in our hotel. Low and behold, I got my Ravelry invite when I checked my email. At first, I tried to leave it until I got home, but it kept calling to me. I finally caved in and set up my site. I happened to have a lot of pictures of my projects on my computer, so I immediately started to enter my recent projects. I was very intrigued with the amount of detail I could enter. Ravelry can even match a published pattern to a book. I spent several hours trying to investigate all the possibilities of using this tool. It may need a book of instructions to use all the features to its fullest extent.

Lately, I’ve been trying to learn about RSS site feeds. None in my computer literate family seem to be familiar with this so tonight I finally got a book Blogging for Dummies. I’m still wondering if it will work to increase my readers of this blog.