Dad’s Conwy socks are finished. I’ll post them off to him today.
Next on my list of projects to finish this month is the fingerless mitts for my friend Kerry. I’m on the first one, and have started the first cables:
I love this yarn. I can see more of it in my future 🙂
I’ve finished the first of Dad’s socks. Unfortunately, I’m running a little later than I’d hoped, and didn’t finish the pair in time to post yesterday to make it to Dad for his birthday on Saturday. (Don’t worry – contingency plans for an alternative present to arrive on the day have been enacted!)
I’ve adapted the Conwy pattern by Nancy Bush. I first knitted a sock in this pattern some years ago, back in my early sock knitting days, but it came out way too small for me. Dad’s feet and mine are roughly the same size, so this time, I used larger needles, and I didn’t do the decreases to shape the leg. I figured tramadol that the rib/cable pattern will shape to his leg, and allow for any ankle swelling he might get.
Now, I’m working on sock 2 – and hoping to have it finished so I can post them on Monday. Sock 2 should be quicker, as I’m not stressing about the size, and I’m more familiar with the pattern. And, thanks to Ravelry, I have notes about the mods I made and how I knitted the heel and the toe, so sock 2 can end up looking at least similar to sock 1!
On other matters, my niece loved her lacy fingerless mittens, and her two friends who were there when she opened the parcel loved them, too!
Me and the Jaywalker pattern aren’t having much luck. I didn’t think I had particularly thick ankles, but they’re obviously not as slim anymore as some people’s are, because even knitting the Jaywalker on needles two three sizes larger than those recommended in the pattern, it’s coming out too tight. I can get the sock on, but it’s not the comfy type of sock sizing I like. I phoned my sister in Canberra, asked her to measure her ankle in case hers is a lot smaller then mine, but there’s not that much difference.
So, I’ve decided to frog the merino/cashmere jaywalker sock that I’d almost finished. Sniff.
To ease the pain, however, I’ve already started using that yarn for some fingerless gloves. I promised my friend Kerry some warm ones last year, but the merino/angora that I spun for the purpose is too fine. So, I’m trying out the merino/cashmere on a glove pattern. I found the free Serpentine mitts pattern, which is the right yarn size, and general style. I wasn’t too keen on the particular cable pattern, so I’ve just used the pattern for proportions and structure, and am doing a different cable pattern. I’m pleased with how it’s coming along so far:
If Kerry doesn’t like these, I’ll be more than happy to keep them myself!!
I’m still planning to use the handspun angora, but think I will knit it along with a strand of 2ply wool. When I dig out the 2ply from the depths of my cupboard, I’ll knit a swatch with the two together and see how that goes. I’m hoping it will knit to the equivalent of a 5ply or thereabouts (light worsted in US terms?) I don’t have a heap of the angora, so there won’t be enough for gauntlet-type gloves, but if it works, there should be enough for a pair of basic fingerless gloves.
I ended up frogging the blue heel on the bright jaywalkers and have reknit it in the dark purple – and it’s much better! I don’t know a lot about colour theory, but although a very close blue is in the main yarn, I think the blue heel didn’t work because it was too ‘cool’ a colour for the warm, rich orange, pink and purple.
So, then I finished the sock, and tried it on, and…. it doesn’t fit. I can get it on my foot, but it’s tight around the foot, and way stretched around the ankle. Hmm. I’m going to let this project ‘rest’ for a little while, until I decide what to do. I’m not that keen on the colour scheme that I want to frog the sock and start again. However, my 16yo niece is on her way back from 3 months in France at the moment, so when she’s home, I’ll find out if she wants a pair of zany coloured socks. If so, I’ll finish the second sock and she can have them for her birthday in April. If not, hmmmm….
As this project is now resting, I felt justified in casting on a new sock. The merino/cashmere yarn from The Knittery has been tempting me since it arrived about two months ago. I decided to try the jaywalker pattern again, but on the next size up needles. I’m using 2.75mm this time, on the logic that this size worked for the Veronik socks I made last month.
My very basic, plain knit-while-I-write socks are also coming along. Sock one is finished, ans sock 2 on the way:
On the Jo Sharp Fisherman’s Gansey, I’m up to the pattern on the front yoke – but that takes a little bit of concentration, so it hasn’t progressed much lately.
Weaving-wise – no progress 🙁
Spinning – I actually went to the meeting a couple of weeks ago, and did spin some silk tops, but not much. There was a meeting yesterday, but as I had the migroan from hell, I didn’t go. Next fortnight!
Knitting lately seems to be two steps forward, one step back. In particular, I’ve been having trouble deciding on contrast colours for heels and toes for the two pairs of socks I’m currently knitting. I have a selection of 5-ply yarns that I use for contrasts, but none of them really worked very well for either pair. For the blue/green/mauve patonyle socks, I knitted the heel first in the same jade green I used last time I used this yarn, but decided it would be boring having two pairs the same. So, I used a purple yarn and knitted the heel – blerch, too strong a colour and it didn;t really pick up the mauve that’s in the main yarn.
So, I’ve now knitted the heel a third time, using a blue yarn, and I think it works well enough.
The very-colourful jaywalkers have been stalled for a while. My choices of colour for contrast heels for it were a pink that made it almost fluorescent, or a blue, which I used, but I’m pretty ‘meh’ about. There is a very similar shade blue in the main yarn, but I don’t think it’s working well to pick it up as the contrast.
Then I (re)discovered this dark purple in the back of the cupboard. And now I’m wondering if that would work better than the blue?? I think it will, which means frogging the foot and doing the heel and foot again. Opinions, anyone??
With doing the first sock of the Veronik socks three times, I sure have been frogging a lot lately!
I’m also trying to knit gloves for a friend, but am having trouble with the fact that the angora yarn I spun quite a while back is finer than I need, and there probably isn’t, in reality, quite enough for the gloves. I’ve started a pair, but I’m also mulling over maybe using one of the merino-cashmere yarns from The Knittery instead, and stranding the angora inside for extra warmth, or knitting a lining for the main part of the hand from the angora. My friend’s hands and fingers get very cold in winter, but she needs to be able to draw and work at the computer, so these can’t be too bulky. Hhhmmmmm. I’ve never knitted a lining for gloves, so I’m not sure which way to go.
I have to wear ‘sensible’ shoes most of the time, and I bought these the other day on special – thinking as I did that they’d go well with handknit socks. And they do. (I think this is the middle-aged equivalent of a little girl wearing pink frilly party socks – although I’ll be wearing mine with trousers, not a dress. So it will mostly be only me who sees them.)
I ordered sock blockers yesterday from The Knittery. I’m hoping they’ll arrive tomorrow, but it may not be until Friday.
And yes, I put in an order at The Knittery but didn’t order any more yarn. How virtuous is that? However, I’ve only earned $47.60 in my exer-stash program, and I have to earn the $70 for the gift voucher from Wool on Wheels before I can spend it, so that’s my first target. Plus, there’s the little incidental fact that I have three skeins of sock yarn from The Knittery already that I haven’t started knitting yet. (Although I’ll probably start one of them this afternoon 🙂 ) So, sock-blockers and several sets of dpns were all I ordered yesterday. It’s only fibre and yarn that I have to walk to ‘earn’, so tools are exempt. And books. Which I don’t buy very often, but there’s a shipment on its way from amazon.com at this moment. They’ll probably be at least another week away.
Project details:
Pattern: Socks for Veronik, Interweave Knits. Holiday 2007
Yarn: Nundle Woollen Mills’ Retro 4ply, shade 147, 100% pure wool
Needles: 2.75mm
Modifications: I didn’t like the toe decrease as per the pattern, so I worked side decreases every second row until 30 sts remained, then every row until 14 sts remained, then grafted.
I have finished a sock. (But don’t ask me about the book revisions. Just. Don’t.)
They’re cruddy photos because I have neither a sock blocker or an attractive leg, but I’ll try and get some better ones later (photos, not legs – although maybe some weight loss might eventually help the legs.)
I didn’t do the toe decrease as written for the pattern. I looked around on Ravelry, and the P3tog decrease down the centre front of the toe just didn’t work for me. I know some people love it, but I kept thinking it looked like a butt crack 🙂 So, I did a variation of my standard toe decrease. The garter stitch down the side of the heel doesn’t really work for me, either, but I’m not going to frog and redo that. I’ll make the 2nd sock matching, but if I make this pattern again (and I probably will), I’ll leave out the garter stitch heel band.
And, as far as progress on other fronts goes:
After weeks of being buried under revisions for my book, and an unexpected trip to Canberra for the funeral of a friend, I’m finally posting pictures of the luscious yarns that I received from The Knittery at the beginning of the month.
Merino silk lace yarn – this will be a shawl.
Merino cashmere sock yarn – Water Lilies shade
Merino cashmere sock yarn – Midnight shade
Merino cashmere sock yarn – Dark reds
Posmerino yarn – natural shade. This will be a jacket or jumper.
All I’ve done so far with these yarns (other than some serious drooling and fondling!) is wind the red sock yarn from a skein into balls.
I’ve not done heaps of knitting lately, due to other priorities absorbing my time. I really wish one could still knit on planes, as I had a fair few hours in airports that I could have gainfully used that way, but alas, the needles had to go in the suitcase, and I didn’t get much chance to pull them out in Canberra.
The colourful jaywalker socks are half-way done in the first foot, now. The lacy Veronik socks are still only at the heel of the first sock, but now knitted for the third time – I’ve decided that 2.75mm needles are right for this, having tried both 2.5 and 3mm. However, both the jaywalker and Veronik socks take a little too much concentration to knit while I’m writing, and since that’s about all I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks, I haven’t made much progress.
Today I did start another, plain pair of socks, which I can knit while writing. I’m using a Patonyle ‘fairisle’ yarn that I’ve used before and love;
Last time, I knitted heels and toes in a jade green, but this time I’ll do them in purple. I like these colours, and they are pleasant to knit with!
On other matters, the exer-stash fund is slowly growing – I haven’t been as good at exercising as I should have been, but I’m over $40 now.
My weaving, however, is still stalled as it has been for months. Maybe once this book is revised and in, I’ll give myself a few hours to play on the looms, and finally get them threaded so I can start to weave.
While in Lincraft in Sydney back in August, I bought a ball of their sock yarn – but in a much brighter colour scheme than I normally go for!
I had to use the flash to photograph this, so it’s showing a bit brighter than the reality – but even in reality, it’s definitely not subtle 🙂
The yarn has sat for while in the stash, because I’m really not keen on stripes, so I needed a pattern that would soften the impact of bright vertical stripes. While cruising around various sites, I came across the pattern for the jaywalker socks, which I’ve often seen on knitting blogs in various yarns. A quick peruse of the pattern, and I was pleased to see that it’s not complicated – good for relatively brainfree knitting.
So, out came the new bamboo knitting needles.
I’ve made some progress on the first one, and it’s easy to knit, but I’m still not adoring the colour scheme. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it, either. I probably lean more towards reds with purples, rather than orange. However, I’ll keep on going, at least for now!
And in other updates:
1) I will have enough yarn to finish the Fisherman’s gansey. I’m about four rows from finishing the sleeves, and I weighed the various parts and leftovers today, and there will be enough for the front – and the collar! So, that’s a relief.
2) I’m not enjoying the bamboo needles. I usually knit with metal ones, and I’ll give these a reasonable try out to see if I get more used to them, but so far I’m not finding them as smooth, plus they feel fragile to me.
3) Many thanks to Bev, Astrid and Jen for your suggestions re lacy capelet possibilities. I’ve had a look a the various patterns suggested, and bookmarked a few. Nothing is exactly what I had in mind, but I’ve had some inspirations from them, and there’s an idea that’s percolating away in mymind as a result.
4) The lacy socks I’m knitting haven’t progressed any further since turning the heel. I’m using 2.5mm needles, which is my usual size with 4ply yarn, but I’m thinking that perhaps with this pattern, I may need to use 3mm needles, because the lace pulls in for a tighter tension. So, I might start one on 3mm needles, and see how it goes.
I spent two days drooling over yarns at The Knittery’s website and trying to resist temptation. This morning I succumbed, and ordered 3 skeins of the handpainted merino/cashmere 4ply sock yarn, a skein of 2ply silk and merino, and enough possum/merino aran weight in the natural colour for a jumper – it was on special, and a great deal. I’ve never used any hand-dyed sock yarn, so I’m looking froward to trying it out – I’ve ordered the dark reds, midnight, and water lilies shades.
Given this is holiday time, and many businesses are closed between Christmas and New Year, I was expecting it might take a while to arrive, but when I got home from town this afternoon there was an email saying it had been shipped today. Woo-hooo! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it might arrive on Monday, although it will more likely be Wednesday.
My current wips are progressing well. On the lacy socks, I’ve just turned the heel on the first one. On the Fisherman’s Gansey, I have about 32 rows to go before the sleeves are finished – and then I’ll work out if I have enough yarn left over for the front as written, or whether I’ll have to shorten the back and front… or write to Bendigo with a sample of the yarn and ordering some more in the closest available dye lot.
