Willy Nilly

sos08 Alchemy Girlfriend Cable Socks
Originally uploaded by TravelingAnn
Most of the holiday weekend was spent working on the felted wine cozy prototype. I cast on for it Thursday night. Spent Friday on the couch knitting on it and watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the SciFi channel. Then finished it off Sunday afternoon. I did take a picture of it, but the picture is at home and I'm at work (lunch break!) and I haven't been able to figure out how to get flickr to allow me to blog two photos in the same post.
Oh, well, duh that's what the url box in blogger is for and the link to this pic html that Flickr provides. Still, it always seems to end up a weird size the few times I've tried it. This is the thumbnail size because when I used one of the other sizes for my first sock the other day it came out huge. I can't seem to win.
Anyway, the wine cozy was making me pretty cranky by the time I finished, namely because it took longer than I expected, I know I won't truly receive a price that will cover my time, and yet I was putting pressure on myself to finish it so I didn't work on any other projects. In the end I think it took a little more than 8 hours.
But then I felted the bugger. Felting is so fun and it ended up so cute (although bigger than I was expecting/planning) that I was all energized and cast on for the version with vertical stripes. It also felted much quicker than I was expecting. Not even one cycle. But I was basing the time and shrinkage on my Felted Ravelry Bag, which was much larger and a different color.

What was I talking about?
Ok, well, since I've buried the lead already, I might as well go with my original story. (I had been composing this blog post in my head and then thought, don't start with this story, get to the point. But after that wine cozy digression, what have I got to loose besides your attention?)
I was so young when I learned to crochet that I don't remember learning. I remember my grandmother teaching me and my younger cousin the double crochet stitch. We were sitting next to her making chains and blocks composed of chains. She was like ok that will be nice and warm but you will never finish anything. And she showed us the double crochet stitch. How I originally learned to hold the hook and chain, couldn't tell you. Double crochet was the only stitch I knew and used for years and I happily started blankets, made clothes for my stuffed animals and scarves for myself.
Then one day, I think I was in college already, my cousin found a pattern for an adorable stuffed cow. I wanted to make it badly enough that I got books from the library and figured out how to crochet in the round and other stitches. After that I was unstoppable and designed several adorable (if I do say so myself) stuffed toys. Finally, in 2001 or 2002 I took the plunge into crocheting sweaters.
My first one was the "Big Easy" from Lion Brand. In some lovely multi-colored blue based Homespun. I finished it in a weekend (and now I can't wear it because it feels squeaky).
Of course making clothes turned me into a yarn snob overnight.
But around the time all this was happening, I cornered my mother-in-law and got her to teach me how to knit.

The opening image
Coming back to the original point of this post, I don't know how much the age at which I learned these crafts has to do with it, but I've found that I follow crochet patterns to the letter and don't deviate at all. But I change knitting patterns willy nilly and sometimes on the fly.
The first sweater I knit was another free Lion Brand one out of Wool-Ease. It was supposed to be a striped crew neck in reverse stockinette stitch with ribbing on the hems. Well, there was a nice cream skein with little flecks of color on sale, so I ditched the stripes. As a new knitter (and without anyone to consult) I misunderstood the ribbing directions and discovered seed stitch. And I worked the sweater in normal stockinette stitch since I hadn't waited all those years to learn to knit to do a sweater in this weird lumpy stitch.
So I guess I was changing knitting patterns to some degree from the word go.
I'm about to unleash this tendency on my poor Alchemy Girlfriend's Cable Socks. My second pair for Summer of Socks 08 and the purple knitting pictured at the top of this post.
The pattern is written for one size at 6.5 sts per inch and I've suspected all along they might be too big, and in deed it looks like that is going to be the case. Which is why I hesitate to buy sock patterns unless they are written for multiple sizes (and actual alternate sizes, not just change your needle size adjustment. I tried that once, the socks are baggy. At least that pattern was free. [Didn't know enough about sock knitting at the time to adjust them down.])
I mean, sure the socks will fit as written, but they are going to be baggy and that will be annoying. Even if I do reserve them for house/bed socks.
Anyway, I worked through the first pattern repeat last night--20 rows--and tried the little bit on. It fits up where the cuff should go ok, but I'm really really certain it will be baggy at the ankle and on my foot. So I busted out the calculator.
My first calculation indicated I needed to ditch around 13 stitches! So from 58 to 45 based on the target gauge and how I like my socks to fit. That was not only ridiculous but would probably make it impossible to maintain the pattern. So I decided to meet it half way and just ditch 6 stitches bringing me down to 52 sts. Which should be a better fit, although not as snug as I usually like.
The easy thing to do would be to drop them out of the back ribbing, but that might pull the design oddly, so I'm thinking I'll ditch 3 from each side over the ankle and go from 2/2 ribbing to 1/1. Since I'm changing the sock anyway, I'm thinking I might change the back ribbing to another cable to disguise the fact that the ribbings don't match. I'll be on a roll at that point, so I'm thinking I might change the called for short row heel to my newly beloved Cuban Heel. Like the short row heel the Cuban Heel shouldn't interrupt the pattern.
Now I just have to chart out the ribbing decreases. Since the sock does fit well at the top, I've decided not to start over from scratch. Of course that will mean laddering the back of the sock down to alter the ribbing to cable. Depending on how fussy that is, I might end up starting over from the cast on.
In the mean time, I brought the felted wine cozy V (for vertical stripe) as my commuter knitting. It's mindless and fast and has to be done. And my lovely sock will be at home knitting. Hey I used to finish a pair of socks in 2 weeks just working on them at home before, why should things be different now?

Hooray Sock Stash!

I've been trying to be good by concentrating on using the yarn I already own rather than buying new yarn. Especially in light of the central air situation.

But a girl can only be strong for so long. I snapped when I was working the other weekend. I was able to rationalize because I had finally invoiced Cynthia for the sock club pattern and had "found money." (I ignored the fact the money could go to other things, such as gas, or the new condenser.)

First I bought this lovely skein of Colinette Jitterbug in the Mardi Gras colorway. This skein came into the store shortly after I bought that purple skein (Florentina colorway as it turns out) with the intent of making socks and using the leftovers in combination with the leftover blue I already had. (So buying the purple didn't really count since I needed it to use what I had.)

At the time I said "where was this when I needed it?" The colors are just so happy! But I was strong and didn't get it. However it's been hanging around the store, taunting me, for like a month. After my trip to Las Vegas, which meant I was out of the store for like two weeks, I told myself that if the Mardi Gras was still there then I was meant to have it.

Then I bought this skein of Sockina Cotton by Schoeller and Stahl. It sounds like this yarn came in when I was out of town so a lot of the colors had already been bought. When I first saw it I was excited about it being 55 percent cotton, but none of the colors really grabbed me. There was actually one that was a mix of orange and greens which totally reminded me of my Sol Joy yarn so I definitely couldn't get that one. I think I'm going to have to let go of my desire not to have duplicate colors in my sock yarns. After all, there are only so many color combinations available and if I really intend to fill my life with handknit socks, there is going to be some over lap. (wow, that's a long sentence, our copy editor would have a field day with it.) So the next day I bought this blue and white skein. I figure I should buy cotton sock yarn to encourage the manufacturers to keep making it and this colorway should be good with jeans.

I also bought three skeins of Cascade 220 in what I hope are sophisticated Christmas colors. I've already started what will be a felted wine cozy gift bag thing. It is part of building my knitting empire so right now the financial outlay doesn't count since I might potentially get it back. Since I'm hoping to sell the finished item, despite the fact that there are probably plenty of wine bag patterns available (in fact I'm fairly certain I remember seeing one on Knitty.com) I'm making up the pattern as I go along to avoid any infringement issues. Knitting this is, of course, cutting into my sock knitting time. So it's a good thing I'm not gunning for the next bi-weekly raffle. Really, I probably should have been making the wine cozy last week instead of my socks, but I don't technically have a deadline, so I was slacking.

Ok, speaking of slacking, time to go see if Hubby is making my big weekend breakfast yet.

First Socks of the Summer

I finished my Joy of Charlene Socks this afternoon. Yipee!
They are my first socks for the Summer of Socks 08 and I when onto Ravelry straight away to log them in so I would be eligible for the first bi-weekly raffle. Considering how many people are playing, and how many of them finished multiple socks in this two week period, I doubt I'll win. Oh well, I'm not doing it for the prizes.
Although I do wonder how those people knit so darn fast. Usually it takes me about two weeks to make a pair of socks. I had thought I'd move along faster what with being on the train and reclaiming that knitting time from the driving commute. Apparently that is not the case. Although I think all the fiddling I did figuring out the pattern held me back on these. I bet if I was doing a pair of plain old stockinette stitch socks, like I usually do, I'd have finished them much faster. Still, I think I'll dig my Alchemy Girlfriend Socks out of exile now. They are all cabled and complicated so I'm not expecting them to go quickly.
But back to the Joy of Charlene Socks. I did work a short row toe for sock number 2 in order to be consistent. The fit of sock 2 is slightly different than sock 1, so I didn't have to work that extra round after finishing the toe as I did on the first sock. Also, instead of closing it with the kitchener stitch I used the method Charlene suggested in an email, which seemed like a modified 3-needle bind off. She said it is from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts's Simple Socks Plain and Fancy. It makes a little ridge along the toes, which is kind of cute. (You can see it on the sock on the right.) We'll see how it feels in a shoe and I reserve the right to yank it out and kitchener it shut instead.
The socks felt all nice and squishy when I was running around in them right after I finished them. They are also full of dog hair now, despite the fact that we cleaned for the party yesterday. It's a never ending battle.
There is quite a bit of yarn left over, although I don't think enough for a full pair. I'm going to have to weight it and compare it to the left over blue Jitterbug to try and assess what I have. I might end up mixing it in with leftover Jitterbug to make obnoxious socks. I seem to be achieving the same gauge with them.
Oh, that's right, I didn't show you my new stash. But at this point it will have to wait for another day.

Thoughts On Sock Surgery

I got a comment the other day, which is terribly exciting because it doesn't happen often. :-)
Christy wrote that her very first pair of socks came out big enough to fit her dad, but then she noticed a dropped stitch and hasn't handed them over yet. She can't decided if she should leave them as is because they are her first, or frog them and rework them to fit herself.
My first instinct was to tell her to open up the toe, pick up the dropped stitch with a crochet hook, and then give them to her dad.
I suppose how much she likes the yarn would come into play. Of course she could always get another ball of it and then they would have matching socks. snicker.
She could, of course, rework them and call it practice. But she should look up articles about reclaiming yarn to get out the kinks, I think Knitty had a good one.
First socks are, apparently, notorious for being difficult and coming out weird. I base this assumption on the regular parade of first socks on the Yarn Harlot's blog whenever she is on tour. (And some day I'll figure out how to get blogger to link properly for me, for now I remain linkless.)
My own first socks where done using some self patterning Regia and a free pattern from Mary Maxim.

(Thanks Flickr for making the picture so huge.) Anyway, there they are. As you can see, they have a mutant shape. The cuff is a bit big and the foot is a bit small, but they fit and I wear them on a regular basis. My sock knitting skills have improved considerably since this pair, which were a necessary first step in learning the construction. Still, I think they are pretty good considering I was in the wilds of New Hampshire without contact with other knitters for guidance, using just books and the internet to guide me. People really need to take advantage of classes and guilds and knitting/crochet groups, it makes life easier.
And, to date, I've only reknit one pair of socks. The first pair I made using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn. I calculated the gauge incorrectly. They fit but they were a little big. I think I wore them twice before I ripped them out and reknit them at a smaller gauge.
Actually, is there a statue of limitations on frogging finished projects? I made a pair of socks from Lana Grossa Cotton Fun. I'm not sure if I did that gauge wrong as well, or if they have just grown since they are cotton, but they are starting to get on my nerves and the last time I wore them I was seriously thinking of frogging them. I have enough left over for a second pair, maybe I should make those first—at a smaller gauge—for comparison before I assault the original pair.
In the mean time, I realized on the train this morning that the foot row count from the first Joy of Charlene sock should still apply to the second sock and I'm going to aim for it. I'm thinking I'll do the short row toe, both for consistency and because it looks nice. (Whether or not the first sock is going to meet a bad end will depend on how they both end up fitting once I can wear them.) I'm closing in on the toe on the second sock, but I won't be able to try the sock on until late tonight or tomorrow. First, I'm wearing my Doc Martens today. Second, I acknowledge that trying on socks on the train is a bit creepy for those around me. Third, Hubby invited a bunch of people over for burgers before we all troop downtown for the fireworks so little knitting will probably be done at home tonight.
(Yeah, my town is doing fireworks tonight. It makes no sense.)

Is It Still Wrong If It Fits?

It's a good thing I'm already married. I made Hubby take this (during a Yankees game, the nerve!). Happily the only reason he batted an eye when I said "Take a picture of my feet" is because he was engrossed in the game.
I turned the heel of sock 2 on the train ride home. I must knit faster if I'm going to finish these for the first Summer of Socks 08 bi-weekly drawing.
Sock number one is on the right, you can see it is a little narrow but it has that cute diamond on the bottom from the decreases.
Sock number two is on the left and looks like a normal sock. Fits like a normal sock too, so far at least.
My mutant heel fits, but as I said the heel pocket is narrow so it's good I have small feet. And of course I've already discussed the issue of the sole drawing in. Knowing the correct turn saves me from this. But I was wondering if extending the rate of increasing or decreasing would address these issues. The increases are worked every other row, so say I did them every third row, that would make the pocket bigger. Also what if I had done the decreases on the sole after the turn more gradually instead (or as well)? That would effect the fit of the sock by introducing slack into various areas.
I suppose it is something I could fool with—after Summer of Socks 08 is over. Oh, sure, it's all about sock knitting right now, but there is also the consideration of the speed needed to keep up with everyone else. Boy am I glad I didn't enter the most socks contest!
Back to sock number 2. Assuming it is going to fit like a normal sock now, I'm not sure whether I should do a normal toe or do a short row one again to get them to match to some degree. It's not a comfort issue, since I kitchenered the toe shut there is no ridge to worry about, although it was a pain to do it for so many stitches.
There is also the wild card that was introduced when Charlene responded to my response with a way to knit the toe shut instead of kitchenering it. I might have to do a short row toe just to try it out.
Now the question is, how far will I get during the commute tomorrow? I will have to do a bunch of measuring and counting to line up the two socks considering all my row and pattern counts I used on the first one are pretty much out the door since I turned the heel differently.
But at the moment, it's bed time, so the socks will just have to wait.

Swoon

Although I made the sock fit, it was bugging me to know that something wasn't quite right.
So I e-mailed Cynthia and asked her to pass my issue on to Charlene. And Charlene e-mailed me back!
I don't know why I continue to be surprised when these fancy, published knitting gurus respond to me. (I had previously e-mailed Lucy Neatby about her garter stitch short row heel and also got a response.) I guess I think of them as celebrities and you don't expect to hear from celebrities. But I guess they are different kinds of celebrities than movie star celebrities and part of a knitting celebrity's thing is to get out in the public and pass on their knowledge. Part of it probably goes back to the fact that knitting was a communal activity once upon a time and let's make the sweeping, unfounded generalization that most knitters (and crocheters) are nice people.
And did I ever mention how I want to make a blouse from Interweave Knits but the smallest size is just a little too big for me. So I tracked the designer down on Ravelry and told her I needed to drop two inches and what I was thinking. And she e-mailed me back confirming my plan and with a discussion of how it would effect the arm and neck shaping. It was sooo cool. I really need to cast on for that already.
Anyway, when I e-mailed I was trying to think of a way to remind her which one I was so I mentioned my pink and purple yarn. Not only did she remember not liking my yarn (snicker) but she remembered I went to the prom! Which hadn't even occurred to me when I was looking for triggers. Which is silly considering the fuss I caused about it.
Anyway, it sounds like my sock problem is related to me being a ninny and following a class pattern, which is based on a 16 st sock, too closely. (I'd like to point out I'm calling myself a ninny.)
She said after I turn the heel I should have been back to 24 sts across needles 1 & 2, which would match the 24 sts on needles 3 & 4 and return me to my original stitch count. I, however, had stopped the heel turning process after I used up all the stockinette stitches that were added during the heel increases (those located between my markers). Apparently I was supposed to continue working the short rows until I had used up all 44 stitches on needles 1 & 2. Which makes sense and means I didn't have to do all the fooling with the pattern on the ends of Ns 1 & 2. And answers my question of not having enough stitches in stockinette stitch for the entire sole.
Currently I'm about 10 rows into the heel increases on sock 2. Obviously I'll be working this longer heel turn. Of course that means the socks won't match. But only the puppies and my feet should notice. (Well, ignoring the fact I just told the world.)
My current plan is also to be strong and not pull out sock 1.