Bangle House

Back on Track

Okay, I took a little vacation from knitting and blogging because I just wasn't feeling it, but now I'm back.  To try to get myself a little more enthusiastic about my knitting, I cast on a number of projects, hoping that one of them would grab me. Here's what I've got going.

Plain ol' 3x1 ribbed socks using Zitron Life Style.

Meh.

A Debbie Bliss baby dress using DB Rialto, which I fear I'll have to frog because the bottom garter-stitch hem is curling up, and I don't think that can be blocked out. 

Yarn substitutions--not always all they're cracked up to be.

Simple stole, the Heartland Shawl, from Folk Shawls, using a bunch of Koigu I bought on sale years ago. 

This will be quite a long-term project and is inspired by all the baby blankets I've made of Koigu for other people which, upon feeling the slinkiness after blocking, I always wish I could keep for myself.  It's kind of a big baby blanket for the big baby of this house--me.

And, finally, another long-term project:  a girly log-cabin blanket made of Rowan Summer Tweed.  I've loved the colors and texture of this yarn for years but could never figure out what I wanted to do with it.  Then the idea of a log cabin blanket hit me, and I think it's going to turn out great.

My only concern is that the two shades of medium-dark purple are so similar.  The problem is that the three shades tht I've used are the only shades of purple in the ST palette, so I think I'm stuck.  I could ditch one of them and go for a neutral on the outer purple edge, but I'm not too crazy about that idea.  There's also a red berry shade that I might be able use in the middle, bumping the middle winey square to the purple side and going from there, but I think that would upset the pink/purple balance.  I'll probably just stick with the similar purples, which look more distinct up close than they do from a distance.

Opinions, anyone?

Totally predictable

Well, way back when I last posted, I was going to log on the next day and tell you all about my latest acquisition; yet, I didn't.  There's a reason for that. 

I had just received and was eager to share just how wonderful Cookie's book, Sock Innovations, is.  Lots of space devoted to explanation about the design process, beautiful patterns (I'd like to knit all but two or three of them, making this a wonderful value considering how much people are charging for individual patterns these days), and gorgeous photos.  In fact, my only complaint--a slight one at that--is that I would have liked it to be spirally bound like several of Interweave's other sock books.  Most of the patterns involve detailed charts, so it would have been nice to be able to open the book and lay it flat.  Oh well, I'll probably just make copies of the charts, anyhow, as I like to mark off which rows I've knit.

Now, as to why I didn't eagerly post my brief review of the book:  Well, sometime between my last post and the following day, I grew painfully sick of knitting socks.  Maybe it's because I've been knitting socks almost exclusively.  Maybe it's because I had just begun knitting Meida's Socks from Favorite Socks, and I hated the pattern as well as knitting sportweight yarn on Size 1 needles (ouch!).  Whatever--enough is enough, and I'm taking a break.

I tossed the Meidas into the trash (hated the yarn) and decided to start any project that I wanted to, as long as I could get enthusiastic about it.  I'm still working out the details on that one.

In the meantime, here's the last pair of socks that you'll see here for a while.  Well, maybe I'll start something easy in a a self-striping yarn just to have a portable project, but Cookie's book will have to wait a while, probably until next fall.

These are the Twin Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch.  The yarn is Creatively Dyed Luxury Sock in "Lucky Days."  It's very soft, and that, in addition to the ribbing, makes them squooshy and comfortable.  I like them.  I even like the bright aquatic colors since they don't flash or pool.

So that's all for now.  I'll check in with my next project once I've decided what that is.

Why socks, of course

Yes, I know I haven't been here for a long time.  I've just been so busy gardening and spring cleaning that I haven't been spending much productive time on the computer, nor have I been doing much knitting.   I''ll catch up next month, I promise. 

Until then, here's what I've been up to.  I finished up the Gentlemen's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks.

Kinda boring, no?  I used Nature's Palette in Spruce, which is suppose to be green.  It's not.  One thing about these natural dyes is that sometimes they turn out dull--like this time.  Oh well,, the socks are very functional and were easy to make.  I really like the stitch pattern.  I think it would be great for a baby boy's cardigan.  Perhaps I'll work something out.

And here are the Yukon Leaves socks in Dream In Color Smooshy "Spring Tickle." 

I changed the heel to a normal flap heel since I couldn't tell what was going on with the pattern's instructions.  I don't like to knit blindly in such situations, especially when dealing with a designer I've never knit before, so I subbed in my normal heel.  Other than that, my only advice is to either go up a needle size or else add the recommended extra purl stitches because these guys are a little bit snug.  I don't think I'll be wearing them much.

And I've managed to start a third pair this month. 

These are the Twin Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks.  I'm using Creatively Dyed Luxury yarn in "Lucky Days," and regardless of what you think of the color, the base is wonderful.  It's a merino/cashmere/nylon blend, and it's very soft and squooshy.  I like the color, although I suppose I could've lived without the bright green spots.  At least it doesn't pool.  It sort of makes me think of Southwestern turquoise.

And now a bit of a teaser:  I got the most fabulous thing in the mail today, and you'll all want to know about it.  Will post tomorrow.

Can't be!

A tulip growing in Southern California?  No way!

Oh yeah, I finished a couple of socks too.

Signs of Spring

We went up to Carpinteria last weekend just to get out of town and stopped by a farmers' market in Ventura along the way.  Other than citrus, which we have plenty of here in the yard, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from.  There were some root vegetables,

 

some artichokes--large and small (beautiful, but I have no idea wht to do with them other than steaming them and dipping the leaves in butter, which really isn't up my alley),

and my very favorite of all--asparagus.

I got a few bunches last Saturday, and they've already disappeared.  Looks like I'll be hitting the Hollywood Farmers' Market this weekend.  Asparagus marks the official beginning of farmers' market season for me--spring peas can't be far behind.

As far as knitting goes, I finished the Time-Out Socks.

And I began the first of March's socks, Yukon Leaves by Lela Conrad.  The pattern can be found here.  The only modification I'll be making will be continuing the pattern down the foot.

It's a well-written, simple pattern; and best of all, it's free.  With costs reaching upwards of $7 for newly released patterns, I'd have to say that my days of buying individual patterns are pretty much done.  Add that to the cost of some nice yarn, and I've got a rather expensive pair of socks once I'm done--especially since I don't often make the same pair of socks twice. . .well, not unless they're plain socks or those irresistible Oak-Ribbed Socks.  Looks like I'll be sticking to freebies and books, or else I'll finally start concocting some patterns myself.

March Companions

As I slog through my sock yarn, these fellas will be seeing me through March.  Well, I hope to make it to all of them.

First I'll be finishing up the Time-Out-from-Koigu socks.  I've got one and a half done.

Yes, they are ridiculously bright, but sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit.  Socks can't always be serious.  These will never see the light of day outside of my house, so I'm not too worried about looking like the crazy sock lady or anything like that. 

And here's an amaryllis from January that I forgot to show y'all.  It's called "Pink Impression," and I'm going to try to take care of it well enough to bring it back next year.

I didn't do a very good job of documenting my amaryllis flowers from this past year, but this one was so pretty that I had to share it, even if a little late.

Chalet Socks

I finished these up as February was ending, so my three-pair-per-month goal has been met.

Chalet Socks from Folk Socks, a book I'd recommend avid sock knitters get if they don't have it already.

A few notes on these socks:  First of all, they look fantastic.  They're a little more work than the average sock, but I think they're worth it, especially because it doesn't take very long before you can read most of the pattern as you knit so you don't have to keep your eyes on the page as much as you think you might.

Now, let's talk about the yarn.  The Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock is a joy to knit with and shows the twisted stitches well, but I would hesitate to recommend it for this project.  The reason is that it's a thinner, slicker yarn than that recommended, and this has its drawbacks. 

Because it's thinner, the socks are snugger than you might expect.  They still fit me fine, but I don't think they'd hold up to wear too well because the yarn is stretched a little more than usual.  Also, I sound up knitting two complete repeats of the foot pattern instead of one and a half , which is what the pattern called for to fit my medium-sized foot.  Not a big deal, but if you're getting a little tired of dealing with the twisted stitches, then it's that much more you'll have to knit before you're done.

The slickness becomes an issue when twisting stitches, which, as you can see, happens plenty.  You're left with stitches hanging off the needle while you're repositioning other stitches, and the slippery stitches often slide down a row or two so that you'll have to take time to pick them back up -- at least until you figure out to hang onto them by pressing them against the needle with a free finger.  With a slightly coarser, stickier yarn, I would imagine that the hanging stitches aren't quite as quick to drop.  

Other than those minor yarn issues, I would highly recommend this pattern, as I would just about any Nancy Bush sock pattern.  It's very well written, and you wind up with a very impressive, beautiful sock. 

I had a feeling it would go something like this

I just had to know whether I was right about the brocade pattern anchoring the seed-stitch border, so I ripped back to the border and knit another eight rows.  Turns out I was right.  As you can see, the border is lying flat without any assistance from me.

The problem is that the pattern is incompatible with this busy yarn.  The pattern is very difficult to read in the fabric as I knit along, so I'm unable to follow it and knit by sight.  That being the case, I made more mistakes on these eight rows than I've probably made in my last dozen projects.  More important than that, I don't think it looks very good, and that makes the whole project not worth the bother.

I ripped out the baby sweater completely, and now the yarn and I are having a little time out.

So I've retreated into another pair of brightly colored stockinette socks. 

And that's probably for the best since it's late February and my mind has turned to thoughts of tomatoes.  In fact, I'm going to the nursery to pick out some plants tomorrow.

Should I start over?

So I got it into my head that the next challenge in my year of stash busting would be figuring out what to do with this yarn.

There are a few more skeins, so I'm dealing with seven skeins of highly variegated Koigu KPPPM.  Having no idea what to do with it, I decided on a baby sweater, and maybe a coordinating little blanket, if there's enough yarn left over.  Why not?  Kids look cute in anything, and I really like them in bright colors.

I settled on the Diamond-Seed Baby Jacket from Interweave Knits, Winter 2004, only I decided to cut out the diamond seed stitches since you wouldn't really be able to distinguish it with al that variegation going on.  Now I'm beginning to wonder whether I made a mistake.

Here's a picture of what I've done thus far, without my holding down the bottom edge.

As you can see, the bottom edge is curling up.  Here's what it looks like when I add a little weight to the bottom edges -- just outside the picture.

I looked at examples of the sweater on Ravelry, and none of them had bottom edges that curled.  While it might be the case that things can be evened out in blocking, my guess is that the diamond seed stitches anchor the bottom seed stitch border, keeping it straight.  I probably shouldn't have eliminated it.

What do you think?  Should I go rip back to the border and start over, following the pattern?  Or should I press on and see what's going to happen?

I'm thinking I should cut my losses now and start over.  I may not finish the sweater by the begining of next month when I'll be starting my three monthly pairs of socks, but at least I'll end up with a nice finished product once its done.

Purple

Purple daisies, medium-toned

and pale.

Purple stattice.

Purple alyssum.

Purple violas, with a splotch of a white face.

And purple socks, completed.

3 x 1 rib, eye-of-the-peacock heel, round toe -- a real mongrel of a sock.  Good thing the yarn carries the project.

Now I get to cast on something new to see me through TV knitting for the rest of the month, and it's not going to be a sock.