Fighting with Yarn

Over the weekend, I took some time to start (yet another) yarn project. I wanted something that didn't feel quite so overwhelming. Like a sweater, or the scarf that's been hidden deep in bag for more than a year, or the 20 gajillion toys I need to make for the boy-o's (just kidding - you know I love you!)

Socks are actually much more complicated and yet easier than you would think. I wanted to design my own sock pattern - it's just a matter of matching up gauge with the yarn and choosing a stitch pattern that will work for you.

But what you see above, well, that toe has been knit three times - once the gauge swatch lied so I had to re-do it for the smaller gauge, then, I didn't like the lace/cable pattern I picked - the 6 stitch cable is too lumpy to actually wear on your foot, and then a white foot showing through dark purple yarn - ummmm, not very attractive. So that was frogged back, while I thumbed through multiple stitch guides looking for something else. I tried a 3 stitch mock cable, but because of the "eastern" layout of my stitch work, that's more difficult than an actual cable. I tried a shell rib - but the repeat was too close together. Frogged again. But learning every time - no lace in a dark yarn, small cable shifts, longer repeats.

Back to the stitch-ionaries. I pulled the "Knitting on the Edge" from the shelf, because I know I really need a rib stitch, and she's got pretty ones gathered together in one space. Maypole Rib it is. It suits my needs. It's only crossing two stitches at a time, there are no holes in the pattern, and the repeat is 8 rows long. I think that in a blue/black/grey/brown yarn this would be fairly manly, but in my Velvet Plum Jitterbug by Colinette, it's feminine enough to suit me. So it's my own design, and I'm keeping the notes for it on my Ravelry account here.

So we may fight, but I'll getcha in the end!

Finished Things

A couple of finished things that have come out of not working lately:

1) Submissions to Stampers Sampler:

The first is for the turquoise challenge. I pulled a color combo from an Amy Butler print that was in some magazine. Turquoise, grey and peach. Her print was pretty mod, but I like the results I got from my paper choices. Love the embossing powder, but the black detail is hard to do cleanly.

and the second is for the Floral Fourth of July Challenge: Not so fond of this one. I think it meets the challenge, but I think the colors are just too... just too much I think. I tried to go beyond the basic flower box and flags and come up with something different, but we'll see.
And, they might not have gotten there in time. Such is the snail mail.

2) Some things off the needles:


The first thing is a stole that I've been working on for more than a year now. I used to drop stitches every time I picked it up and I just couldn't get into the rhythm of the thing. But lately, it's been in the car - ready for me to knit on any time I have some free time between appointments. It's made of Alpaca and is super soft. I did a very soft block on it, just to spread the yarn overs, and it ended up being about 6 feet long and about 18 inches wide. I'm so glad that it's done now.

The second thing is my first pair of socks. They are ankle socks, done in a worsted weight super wash wool turquoise yarn. I bought the yarn to take my sock class, where we did a very tiny sock, but learned the basics. So, to be sure that I knew how to adapt them, I did a sock for my foot. Once I was done with the first, the hubster said it wasn't done - where is my second? I guess I'll never have a case of second sock syndrome. I didn't think I had enough of the turquoise yarn left over to make the second sock, so I grabbed a remnant of mystery acrylic to stretch the wool. The stripes actually made the second sock seem like it was moving faster - I could see progress as I went along.




So that's some of the fun things. I'm trying to work on getting some of the house taken care of along the way.