I have attempted to get better pictures in sunlight with no flash. The colors are still not perfect. Everything is about right except what appears as light blue is actually a deep teal green. They are also unblocked, because I don't have sock blockers this small.
Details about the project - Tropical Punch Socks - are in the entry directly below this one.
Pattern: Sleepy Eyes Tipsy Sock Pattern (free pdf)
Designer: Gina House
Yarn: Vesper Sportweight yarn in Tropical
Needles: Addi turbo size 3US/3.25mm - 2 circulars
I love this pattern! I hope to get a better photograph outdoors if I can get something besides rain or overcast skies. This pattern is great for variegated yarn. I modified a couple of things. I began with 3 rows of stockinette and a purl row (to stop the roll) before beginning the pattern. I also replaced the standard heel flap with the Fleegle Heel which I talked about at length in this post. This is a very nice fitting heel, and no picking up stitches around the flap - woot! These socks are also my second Christmas gift completed. (The Kauni Shawl is the first, but still needs blocking.) We won't discuss how many there are to go.
I had a little help as I finished up the second sock this evening. There is a fun group on Ravelry called Knitted Furmiliation. People post pics of their dogs and cats modeling knitted items. Who can resist that? Winston succumbed to his fate.
One tipsy sock to go. I don't think I will have a problem with SSS (second sock syndrome) with this one. This pattern is a blast to knit, and the sportweight yarn makes it a fast knit for even a slow knitter like me.
Now if I could just get a accurate picture of the colors in this yarn. It defies any flash photography or fixes in photo software. Hopefully someone can get a good outdoor shot of the pair when they are finished. What appears to be a light, bright blue, is actually a darker teal green. The second picture is a macro shot, but it still doesn't show the true colors
The pattern is Sleepy Eyes Tipsy Sock (free PDF), and the yarn is Vesper sportweight from Knitterly Things in Tropical.
(Anyone looking for Dogs on Thursday post - it will be up later today.)
Some sock knitters, like me, are always on the look out for a better/easier heel. I try them all. There are times one heel is better suited for a pattern or a yarn than another. Some people don't like the way a short-row heel fits, others love it. I'm not particularly adept at a short-row heel, wrapping and picking up wraps seems very fiddly to me. I like to be able to knit socks without taxing my brain too much, so when I knit a short row heel - I usually knit a garter stitch heel, because the wraps don't show and don't have to be picked up.
Occasionally I knit a peasant heel. It's not my favorite fit-wise either, and then there is the added pleasure - ahem - of getting to kitchener both the heel and the toe. Did I mention fiddly slows me down?
For the greatest percentage of my socks I am a dedicated flapper. I like the heel stitch, and the partridge heel. I don't particularly love picking up the stitches around the flap. I can do it - I just don't enjoy it. There is the band heel that although easier to execute, does not fit every foot.
Enter the Fleegle Heel. I seriously LOVE this heel. I want to marry this heel. If you follow that link, it takes you to Fleegle's generic sock pattern that can be worked toe up or cuff down. What's not to love about a flexible pattern like that? Then she managed to tweak the heel just a bit to make it even more perfect, which you will find at this link. (Her generic pattern has also had the link of no sock holes for you - her improved heel - right when you get to the heel section of the pattern..)
Sock knitters, what is one of the pitfalls of knitting socks? The dreaded hole that appears when you join the heel to the instep. It has been the bane of knitters since the dawn of time. There are different ways of addressing this problem such as...
I have done all of these at one time or another, some with great success and others with limited success. Knitters like me, who knit a fair amount of socks, use about every technique at one time or another - longing for the perfect heel and the holeless sock. Hello Fleegle heel!
I have pictures, but as y'all already know, I am not a great photographer, and I am stuck inside with whatever lighting can be conjured up by the flip or a switch and a flash. Add hand tremors to the mix and well, you get what you get, you know?
Here is the heel (stuffed for photography purposes) at first glance:
I made a few modifications in the heel to suit my knitting style - knitters can do that! When I did the M1 increases as the pattern instructed, I was getting holes. Normally this does not happen to me, but it may have been the tight stitch count with sportweight yarn. I changed the increases to KF&B, and I loved it. This does give the little raised purl bump, but it is not unattractive on the sock.
I like the way it looks. The picture of the other side does not show the purl bumps as plainly, because there was some pooling of color and they blended in more. If using a solid yarn, they would be less noticeable - if that matters to you.
The other change I made in the pattern was the decreases. As written, it calls for a K2Tog on the knit side, and a P2Tog-tbl on the purl side. By the time I execute a purl decrease through the back of two loops, I could have knitted an entire row. It really slows me down. Fleegle's pattern as written is perfect, as evidenced in the pictures. It presents a beautiful heel. Obviously my skills are not as well honed as hers, and I was more comfortable with an SSK on the knit side, and a P2tog on the purl.
The following shows the heel turn, and I promise it is not as wonky and distorted as my pictures shows. Somehow between the stuffing in the sock, and my thumb pulling the fabric taut, it looks all uneven. It's not. Plus the one thing I have discovered over my time of knitting many socks - any uneven stitches really do come out in the wash. (Or in the case of gift socks that you are not washing and wearing personally, they work out in the soak and block.)
Then there is the really good stuff (which I didn't get a good photo of - even with macro), but there are NO HOLES where the heel joins the instep! Woot!
The clincher? I had 3 different people try the sock on, and the all pronounced it the most comfortable heel they had ever worn. They also each claimed the pair of socks to come as their own. Oops. This result was also because the pattern I am knitting, Sleepy Eyes Tipsy Sock is a real winner - especially with variegated yarn. This is a free pattern - link to the pdf file here. It's a good thing I have a skein or two in my sock yarn stash, huh. Skein or two. Cackles.
Wendy featured a sock on her blog recently with a similar heel, and someone asked if it was the Fleegle heel. Wendy said it was similar, and the one she preferred especially on sport or dk weight socks where heel stitch adds bulk.
Get over to Fleegle's blog and check out her sock pattern and her heel tutorial (with pictures), then look around while you are there. She knits lace lovely enough to make a knitter cry.
I have been able to sort out some of my computer woes, but I still have a computer tech. coming to the house in the morning. Hopefully all will be well when he leaves, and he will not be taking my computer with him.
Because of the uncertainty. I am going to extend the Caption Contest until Wednesday (oops) Tuesday - November 13th until 6:00 p.m. CDT. Please continue to add your captions by comment or email. There have been some great ones, and it will not be easy to make a choice.
I have a new sock on the needles. I am having to suspend some knitting for myself so I can get some Christmas knitting done. This sock will be a Christmas gift...
Pardon the bad picture. This was taken inside at night, with a flash. The yarn is very bright, but much prettier than it is showing here. This seems to be a great pattern for variegated yarn.
The pattern is Sleepy Eyes Tipsy Sock Pattern by Gina House. It is a free pattern you can find here (pdf file.) The yarn is Vesper Sport Yarn from Julia of Knitterly Things.
Yummy yarn, sport weight, great pattern = fast and fun sock knitting. Let's hope the computer stuff goes this well.
All those days without Internet access...I should have more to show in the knitting department. I'm sorry, I'm a bit of a knitting sloth. When I could have been knitting I was...
In the case of the sock - I do have a progress picture...
The yarn is a new one by Fortissima Colori called Fortissima Mexico Country - Serengeti - color #14. I think it has a decidedly masculine feel. Just my luck, I kill myself learning the picot edge and I manage to put it on a manly sock. My husband saw the colors and instantly fell in love, saying he would like to have a hat in those colors. I briefly considered ways to make a manly kind of topknot out of the picot edge for a hat - heh. 'Cause we all know I am NOT ripping out that picot edge.
I do like how it has a subtle striping going on with some not unpleasant pooling splotches here and there. I confess I had to beat the sock into submission a bit for the photo shoot. Yes, the picot edge has a tendency to flair a bit...but then so do my decidedly thick legs...so maybe it will all work out.
There will be no pictures of the Secret of the Stole progress. I rip about as much as I knit, but I am making some progress and I don't want to jinx it.
Winston has a new short do. He has been suffering from allergies, poor baby. Sneezing and itchy ears. A quick trip to the vet, and he had to get a shot and some meds to calm his itchy ears. The Poodles (Remy and Sachi) go to the doggie spa tomorrow. Group photo tomorrow maybe.
Winston was not in the mood to pose for pictures today. There are squirrels in the yard, and he is nothing if not on constant squirrel alert. The squirrels have actually figured out the dogs cannot get out, and have the audacity to come right up on the patio and tease them! So we had to have a little help getting pictures of the dapper dog. Unfortunately he was sort of thrust right into the camera lens, which makes him look like the only Yorkie alive weighing in at about 50 lbs, instead of his usual six lbs.
Who might that be lurking behind the "massive" dog?
(Notice Winston is checking the window for squirrels.) Why it's kiddo - straight from her one night engagement as the "Dying Prom Queen." Her sister is the manager of a group home for disabled, and developmentally challenged adults. M put on quite the "Fright House" at her group home, inviting other group homes to attend. Each room had some kind of "horror" - nothing too scary to frighten the clients. All staff, though in costume, were easily recognizable to add to the client comfort level.
In their room, kiddo was dressed as a prom queen, lying on a bed - being chewed on by her zombie sister. There was a mummy jumping out of the closet, and a pup tent that shook and roared when touched. The clients were all oohing and awing over how pretty kiddo was...until she would open her eyes and start screaming at them to help her. If anyone looked alarmed, kiddo instantly assured them she was just pretending. One young man from another group home, where M was the manager when he was just a young boy, has visited our home many times.
Young client: (always calls M by her full first and last name) Is that your little sister?
M: Yes
Young client: Is that fake blood?
M: Yes
M: (name of client) Are you have a good time?
Young client: Does a train go to through the tunnel? (This is his way of saying yes.)
Another older client, who has also been to our home many times, saw nothing else in the room but kiddo. "Oh! There's that pretty girl!" What he always says when he sees kiddo. He also thinks she is M's daughter - heh.
I'm not normally a fan of Halloween, etc. However M worked for three days preparing this extravaganza for the clients' enjoyment. Something they would not be able to enjoy in other places because some are physically challenged, and others would have seizures in the presence of strobe lights. Although the aim was to entertain them with a Halloween-type haunted house, M was careful to make sure nothing was too scary or upsetting. She goes above and beyond the call of duty to make as many fun things happen for them as possible. Yes I'm a wee bit proud of her.
Nothing makes me happier than the fact that one came into my life at age 14, the other at age 48 hours. Even though they are separated by 22 years, they are very close. They hang out together all the time.
Oh - hee - the clients might not have been frightened, but one certain teenager who is never afraid of scary movies (really Mom, I'm not!) asked to sleep with her sister last night.
I have long admired picot edged socks on other knitting blogs, and had made a mental note to do this some day. After all, how hard could it be if so many were doing it?
I humbly bow before all of you picot edge mavens that make it look so simple. Margene often tells us, it's the process that counts. I have always been an avid student and learner. However in knitting, I often take the easy way out because I knit as a hobby, as a way to pass time, to soothe my angst, and of course to justify the gnormious stash. Although I like learning new things, I cannot attend classes or workshops where I could have a hands-on learning experience. I have to learn on my own, and I have discovered I am not the fastest needle in the knitting basket when it comes to new knitting techniques - if you know what I mean.
I started out TWO NIGHTS ago, to do a picot edge on a new pair of socks. I needed some simple stockinette socks to work on, so I figured after I knocked out the picot edge thing, it would be smooth sailing after that. Never mind that I am way behind on the Secret of the Stole Kal. I have not knitted a stitch on that in days, still needing to complete a dozen or so rows left on Hint 1. Hint 2 was posted Friday, which I promptly printed off shortly after midnight on Thursday. I have such a guilt complex over this that I am sure that the blue eye on the KAL button is always watching me to see when I am actually going to knit on this. I may have to knit her an eye patch.
Perusing the net, I found more than a few good tutorials on how to do the picot edge sock. I have long admired the tutorials on Purlwise. After all it was she who managed to teach me to kitchener, when no other book, etc. had been able to clarify it for me. I still flip over to her tutorial on kitchener stitch as a reminder if I haven't done it for awhile. So it was natural that I looked at her tutorial on Folded Picot Edge first. It was presented in a straightforward manner with pictures, and all.
I started out with my crochet provisional cast-on, and fumbled and bumbled with trying to find the exact "bump" I was looking for when it came to knitting into it. I have long crocheted, so I am not unfamiliar with the two different sides to a crochet chain. After an hour or so of fumbling around, I was finally ready to start picking my stitches out of the provisional cast-on, unraveling it one stitch at a time. That's when I discovered that I had not always managed to pick the right bump. Somewhere between pulling and snipping, I managed to lose a live stitch and it unraveled quicker than a run in your too tight pantyhose. It was very late at night, and I was tired - so I chalked up my first failure to that and vowed to start again the next day.
Bright and early I was ready to begin again. Something about provisional cast-ons was niggling the back of my brain, but I didn't realize exactly what it was until I found this tutorial. Aha! Theresa 's excellent tutorial reminded me there was an easier way to do a crochet provisional cast on. This time I was ready to go in record time. I was using a smooth, mercerized cotton yarn in an off-white. Although the cast on went well, her tutorial for the picot edge left me scratching my head with an extra needle or three
There is no doubt when you read Theresa's blog that she has an excellent scientific mind. I, however, do not. Although using an extra set of needles to put the live stitches onto when undoing the provisional cast on made perfect sense, the idea of using two full sets of needles, plus an extra needle for the Japanese bind-off was cramping my brain. If I actually used DPNS and not circular needles, my brain would have seized and closed up shop permanently on the spot.
I ignored that little voice in the back of my head saying, "Are you CRAZY? You really think you can juggle four circular needles and an extra needle when binding off and leaving live stitches?" The bind off was not a problem for me, I have long been a fan of the three-needle bind off. If I were smart enough, I would design and entire sweater using three needle bind-off instead of mattress stitch.
Knitting blithely along, I came to the point where I was going to be transferring live stitches from my provisional cast on to two extra circular needles. It was actually working fairly well, although I was having difficulty seeing some of the stitches inside my provisional cast on, at least the cast on was unraveling magically like it should. I got all the stitches on the needles, and began doing the Japanese bind off. It was going pretty well, when I noticed that somewhere back about 10 stitches, I had managed to drop a stitch and it had unraveled completely. Boogers! Back to square one.
Somehow I was sure the third time would be the charm. After all that saying had to come from somewhere, right? I have discovered it was not coined by a knitter doing picot edges and provisional cast ons for the third time.
Undaunted I pressed on, sure that a combination of the two tutorials would be the ticket. I would crochet the cast on directly onto the needle as Theresa shows, but use the method that Melinda of Purlwise teaches of undoing one stitch at a time, and knitting it together with a live stitch. When this failed, I realized the problem most of the time had been that my provisional cast on yarn was too thick at a dk weight for the sock weight yarn, and helped to hide the stitches with its puffy self. The fact that some of the live stitches had colors that blended into to the cotton yarn made it difficult to pick them up cleanly.
I scoured the net again, and remembered I had notes from a explanation Claudia had given on picot edges saying she just did a normal long-tailed cast on, and then knit a live stitch with the cast on row, being careful to line up each stitch. I discovered that Cara had used the same technique when putting picot edges on her darling short Monkey socks.
Once again I began anew. I first used Claudia's instructions of using a smaller needle on the inside, switching to a larger needle from the yarn over, knit two together row and the balance of the edge. I never have problems with twisting my stitches when joining in the round, but somehow when I transferred them from the size 3 needle, to the size 1 - that's what I managed to do. Of course I did not discover this right away. RIP again.
The next time I actually dropped a stitch while just knitting, and couldn't recover it to suit me. Now I wasn't just failing at picot edges, but apparently all the new information forced into my brain had made basic knitting knowledge drop out. I've long been convinced that after about age 40, our brains need extra memory added to them like our aging computers. My best friend says she still knows everything she once did, she just doesn't have enough RAM to pull it up when needed.
I put my knitting away, tired, disgusted but strangely determined not to let this thing beat me. I only briefly considered casting on and knitting some ribbing and getting on with it already. If I had done that to begin with, I could have been WEARING the socks by now.
Let me assure you that each of the tutorials I have
linked to here are EXCELLENT. They lack nothing. Any confusion or
problems I encountered were all sadly my own.
Today, I started again. The knitting set up went well. It took me about 40 minutes to knit the first 10 or so stitches together. Somewhere there was a doctor doing brain surgery that took less time that it did for me to do the rather "fiddly bit" as Claudia refers to it. I checked and rechecked those first stitches to see if I had them on matching stitch rows so many times, I was afraid the sock was going to start showing wear before I ever actually wore it.
Painfully I managed to work a needle's worth of stitches, (36 stitches on one circular) in somewhere around an hour. People stranded in the desert have found water faster. I actually put it down for a couple of hours and did something else for awhile. I had not gotten this far to make some stupid mistake that would be my undoing.
About 10:30 p.m. I picked it up again, and managed to zip across the last 36 stitches in about 15 minutes. Apparently you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
May I present...the humble picot edge...
Please feast your eyes on this. I'm not sure if I like the what the yarn is doing yet or not, but I'm not about to take this out or start over with new yarn. It remains to be seen whether this will be a lone sock, or if I will actually torture myself again. I have no idea if it will fit my leg properly, or anyone else's I know. They may flair horribly, or not. (see the part about not starting over.)
If I manage to actually knit a PAIR of picot edged socks, and they don't fit - I will scour the Internet until I find someone they will fit. If it turns out to be you, please do not comment on how busy or ugly the yarn might appear. Just accept them gladly, and park them in the back of your sock drawer...or wear them under pants so long that even your shoes don't show. Just don't tell me, okay?
Like so many knitters out there, I took one look at
Kauni yarn and fell head over heels in love. Apparently I was late to
the love pool, because by the time I had fell in said pool, there was
no Kauni to be found on this continent. Shops that were willing to get
it in had no idea when to expect a shipment to arrive.
Never one
to let a small detail like that stop me, I googled frantically and
followed up every rumor of a lead. I hit pay dirt in Denmark.
Lisette was quick to email updates, and the entire transaction was
easy. Her site can be changed to English wish is a huge help. She has
Kauni yarn in many colors from solids, to various multi-shaded
beauties. I was head over heels for Kauni EQ, and barely glanced at
any of the others. I see she is well-stocked on Kauni EQ having 142 of
the 150 gram skeins. I'm just saying. No affiliation here, just a
very satisfied customer.
I knew I didn't want to make the
cardigan, as beautiful as it was. I decided on a shawl. Yes, I know I
have two unfinished shawls on the needles, what's your point? At first
I was going to knit a shawl designed by Jeanie Townsend, for Astrid's
Dutch Obsessions. I had seen the shawl on Jeanie's blog. Jeanie sent me four different shawl patterns. Many of you will know her from the Townsend Sock Group. Jean has more talent in her little finger than many have in a lifetime of study. She is a prolific pattern writer of beautiful knits. Here is the one with Kauni EQ.
Before I had a chance to cast on, I saw this one (scroll down to Aug. 12th entry) using Susan Pierce Lawrence's Forest Canopy Shawl.
LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING!
Yest, I was in love. This was IT. I have the perfect person to make it for and everything. It will look magnificent over her navy winter coat. It is smaller, therefore more likely to get finished, right? Just nod your head, and play along...okay?
The Kauni came in two huge skeins of 150 grams each. I have already wound one, but the other is in it's original commercial skein. The small light blue skein is 8/1 (lace weight) included as a gift from Lisette because the order was slightly delayed. That was very sweet of her as it really was a slight delay.
Next up is the wound skein(s). I was winding along without a hitch, when I came to a splice. Unfortunately the splice added a color out of order, which began a sequence in reverse. Drat. Thankfully it was really a small part of the skein involved. I did notice a fair amount of "flotsam and jetsam" in the yarn. Little bits of twigs or whatever also found in Noro yarn. What is it about self striping wool? Can they not get the sufficient graduation of color without bits and bobs of unknittable fiber?
Lest you wonder about the color placement in the two skeins...I know it looks like I have wound them in opposite directions. I work from the outside thread of yarn wound into balls. It keeps the ball from collapsing onto itself making a big mess, and also leaves a neatly wound smaller ball if you use less that the full skein. For instance, I had a very nice, neat little ball of lilac yarn to include with my sockapalooza pal's package, in case she needed to mend the socks or wanted to reknit the toes, etc.
If I do indeed use all of the larger skein, it ends right (inside) the larger skein right at the place I would start knitting from the outside of the smaller skein. Of course if I need even more yarn - I will wind the other big skein.
Next I knitted a swatch. Uhoh, I think some of my readers just fainted. I hope they're alright. To the left of the garter middle row is the yarn knitted on size 6 Holz & Stein ebony need.es To the right is the yarn knitted on size 5 Addi Turbo Lace needles. I prefer the former I will check again once the swatch is completely dry. I could probably get away with knitting with size 7 needles, but I think I will start with the 6 and see how it handles the lace.
I was a little dismayed to discover this yarn knitted like burlap. Ouch! It is rough like some Shetland, but it softened nicely after a soak in Eucalan. Although I am knitting the shawl, it is good to know that this yarn is very sticky and would lend itself to fair isle, steeking and split-splicing quite easily.
So I'm off to knit on the monkey socks I started when searching for the right pattern and yarn for my sockapalooza pal. It should be a good combo of knitting. When my hands are sore from knitting the rough Kauni, I will soothe them with the super soft yarn Violets sock yarn from Dani at Sunshine Yarns.
My sockapalooza socks are finally on their way to their recipient. Thankfully my sock pal was very gracious when I notified her I was a little behind on finishing her socks. I have never missed a swap deadline before, and this pained me greatly.
Here they are...along with a few goodies to make their tardiness more palatable...
Unfortunately the above does not show the true color of the socks, but does show the right color of the lavender wrapping with purple ribbon on the packages. The socks were also wrapped, before they were popped into the priority mail box.
Here is another picture that shows the pattern detail and a much better color reflection. From a distance the socks appear solid colored, but close up the beautiful muted variations appear.
Specs:
Pattern: Child's First sock from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lilacs, in soft from Sunshine Yarns
Needles: Addi lace size 2US, and size 1US for heel.
This is not my first time knitting this pattern, and I still love it. I always enjoy knitting with Sunshine Yarns. This was my first time using the new Addi lace needles, and I like 'em.
Now let's hope my sock pal likes them, and they fit well. She is a real sweetie, and I can't wait to do a reveal and show a fun email exchange we had.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This week has been a down under week for Winston...
We have had above average temperatures here for about 3 weeks, so that sun streaming in under my computer table gets very hot. At first I thought Winston had climbed under his bed, because the sun was shining very brightly on the bed. But then he began doing it in the evenings, too...
...and other places. This is not his normal "Where's Winnie?" game, he will come out from under if you call him, but he goes right back.
I missed the best picture of him under his bed. Sachi got in the bed, so we had a double-decker. I grabbed my digital camera...turned it on...only to see a flashing red light as the battery died. Don't you hate when that happens?
That would be me! My sockapalooza4 socks came yesterday from Ashley! I'm not sure if Ashley has a blog. If she does I will update and link to her.
A few weeks ago I even emailed Deb to ask how difficult Cookie A's Pomatomus socks were, as the chart looked a little confusing. She assured me it would make sense once I started knitting the socks. I filed that information away for future reference in my memory to-do list.
Well...tada!
Thanks to my wonderful sockapalooza pal Ashley, I have my very own Pomatomus socks. I wish my photography did not suck. These socks are beautiful. The yarn looks like gemstones. It is Mountain Colors bearfoot in Mountain Tango Mmmmmm. Soft, squooshy and stretchy - just what I need.
Most people in a wheelchair can be prone to swelling in the feet and legs, and I am no exception. Mine can be a different size every day, or even from morning to evening. A pattern with stretch is a must.
I love jewel tones of red, blue green, gold, green, and purple. This yarn has all of them. I tried to find a better picture online, but it is a hard yarn to photograph and do it justice.
Here is a picture of them on my feet & ankles, which look enormous because I am wearing two layers of tubigrip (a sort of industrial strength compression.)
There is something so exciting about receiving a pair of socks knitted just for you by another sock knitter. I hit the jackpot by getting the very pattern I had been most interested in, and knitted with wonderful yarn. I am one blessed Bliss! (say that 5 times - heh)
Hopefully I can get someone to take pictures outside so the pattern will actually show up. You can't really see it in my pictures, but is there anyone left who hasn't seen the famous P socks?
Ashley, you hit the ball out of the park with these. I love them so much, and I thank you for making these very special socks just for me.
UPDATE: Ashley does have a blog - you can find her here.
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