Socks Rock

I've been knitting socks this summer all shapes and sizes and colours!  From the proven traditional sock knit from the cuff down and picking up stitches at the heel flap to socks knit toe up with the traditional heel flap Like these from Cat Bordhi called Pussy Willow stockings.

I love the moccasin toe Cast on using Judy's Magic cast on.  I had a bit of trouble adjusting to this cast on but I'm glad that I stuck with it because it really is quite easy and quick once you get the hang of it.  I knit this pair for myself and they are a nice fitting sock.  I particularly  liked knitting the traditional heel flap this way, Cat Bordhi did a great job with this one. With no pick up stitches leaving holes.
I also tried Cat's Sweet Tomato Heel.  Well done in my estimation.  This heel flap with it's "Thanks Ma's" was quite easy also.  although it did take me a few pairs before I finally realized how to do them without the holes.  You must remember to do the "Thanks Ma's" in the correct position and it does require some thought or at least paying attention.  But I would knit this sock again.

I have to add here that I also tried the afterthought heel. Although I like the idea of knitting the whole sock and then ripping out the stitches and picking up the stitches and then knitting the heel, it didn't work for me.  I didn't listen to the instructions properly and used a similar colored waste yarn also my eye glasses needed updating.  So that didn't go well and they got frogged.  I doubt that I will use this pattern again.  But I did get this far.

Next up is the free pattern on ravelry from Socks al la Carte.  I enjoyed knitting this sock with it's pick your own cuff, leg, heel flap, and toe.  I chose the free one which was quite easy but I probably won't knit this sock again.  The leg was quite bulky knit in this pattern but after blocking and drying on sock racks it looked a lot better.   I gifted these to a friend from church and am holding my breath hoping things will go back to this shape after she has to wash them.  But they did turn out relatively nice!

My niece living in Dubai had a little bab ygirl in August so I took a break from sock knitting and knit her this lovely dress and some booties.  The fleece was merino and silk and I spun it worsted so as to bring out the stitch definition. 

  

At present these socks from the knitty website called Proclastic from Marlowe Crawford are on the needles.  Very interesting construction.  Definitely not a pattern to knit while watching TV or in a group because you will need to concentrate at all times.  Also keep track of where you are in the pattern by writing down each round as you do them.  Quite easy though much like knitting a sweater where you are doing several instructions as the same time and in the same round.  Very nice pattern for a freebie!  If you are good at Multitasking you will have no trouble.  If you look closely at the pattern on the leg you will notice the lovely what looks to be cabled pattern, but it isn't cable it is just a 12 row easy lace pattern, I definitely will knit this pattern again.  Kudos on this one!  One thing to note here I'm knitting the smallest size, cast on 66 stitches which is my usual size.   I wear a size 10 shoe and these socks appear quite small so would suggest knitting the larger size.

 

I took some pictures of some of the socks together when I completed the first sock.  I got a lot of sock knitting yarn at KnitTraders this spring at the Tent sale and had a friend purchase and share her stash with me when she found out I was knitting socks for a friend at church!  Can't beat that!

 

Happy Knitting!



 

Sweet tomato heel

Cat Bordhi has a new sock heel called Sweet Tomato heel.  It is knitted with a series of wedges for the heel.  There are no pick up stitches and is knit very similar to the short rows in a regular knit heel.  Here is her tutorial video:  http://www.tinyurl.com/4x4mp2

I've knit one sock using this technique and the only problem that I've discovered is the thanks ma's don't completely disappear the way they should.  I have a feeling that I am doing something wrong.  I can look at the knit2togethers and find them everytime when looking at the finished sock.  I do love the technique and plan to continue using this heel but need to find out what I am doing wrong or differently.  I used three wedges for my heel but think in the next socks I'll try using 2 1/2 wedges because there is a tiny bit of bulk at the heel that I don't need.

 This sock yarn from Schoeller + stahl is amazing yarn and the 32 stitches per 4 inches makes a very nice sock that can be worn under one's shoe.  Purchased at Knick Knackers in Smith Falls Ontario.  I can't point you to the pattern for this sock because I improvised the pattern using the sweet tomato heel.  Because of the business of the yarn I thought it might be a waste of time doing lace which is what the pattern called for so I just knit up the leg rather than laced.  Over all I like the technique and with some more trial and error I may have just found the perfect heel.

Here is a tutorial on starting the toe of these socks: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAgcVb-vsEI&feature=related

While I was outside taking pics of my new sock I noticed in one of my barrels this beautiful tiger lilly growing all by it's self.  One of God's beautiful treasures!!

It's The Berries Update

Glad to be able to add this project to my FO list at last.  This sweater is fantastic!   Even my 10 year old granddaughter says it's "really nice"  The pattern is well written and I enjoyed the knit.  I kept the shoulder stitches live and didn't have to pickup there when knitting the front band.  I love the V-neck because it's tight where it needs to be tight and is a close fitting V-neck.  I blocked the body before putting it together and then blocked again when completed.  One other thing that I did was knit with a smaller needle because the gauge was not correct for the yarn.  This gave me a tighter fitting sweater to wear under my winter jacket.  I wanted light but warm and that's exactly what I got.  Very nice pattern and easy peasy!!

 

Easy self striping socks

Took a little break from knitting my sweater to knit these socks.

  A friend and myself went on a little trip to knick knackers in Smith Falls, .  Wanted to try to knit self striping socks.  Wow the prices of sock yarn have really increased in the last few years.  I tried to knit afterthought heel socks but when I tried to pick up the stitches from the waste yarn I found I couldn't see well enough to pick up the right legs of the stitches below.  Of course using a scrap yarn that wasn't enough of a contrast color didn't help.  But it threw me off and I frogged the whole sock.  Started knitting a pattern that I had kicking around the house called Simple self striping socks from a book called Company's coming learn to knit socks.

Very nice easy peasy pattern!
This is the third pair of socks knit for Debbie at church, she loves hand knit socks and I love knitting them!

It's The Berries

By Carol Sunday!  Classic cardigan with a vintage attitude, modern fit and charming details including a cable and bobble berry border pretty cable decrease shaping and a tidy hemmed band.  found here:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/its-the-berries
I hope!

 

I needed a large amount of alpaca for this project, maybe about 2 pounds so I took all of the alpaca that I have purchased over the last few years from different alpaca farms in my area and threw them all together into one large bag and just started spinning whatever ends came out of the bag.  Fortunately they all are the same color.  I'm spinning it worsted and lace weight approx. 24 wpi.   So far I've got approx. 700 yards. 

  I knit the back with out any problems and then started the left front.  Got confused right away by the symbols.  Thought it was because it takes me awhile to get used to knitting from a chart.  As usual I jumped right in before reading the whole instruction sheet and didn't notice that it states in the legend that the cable symbols are shown, from top to bottom, in the order in which they are encountered.
This is exactly what I love about ravelry, you can  get in touch with the designer for any help that you might need.  Thank you Carol Sunday for your help!
Left front is coming along very nicely and fairly quickly. 

I'm finding that  safety lines are a must for me after unraveling the left front once or twice.  Put them in at row 18

Handspun tip down mittens

When I knitted Pepita using Magic Loop Method I really got hooked on this method of knitting.  I like the fact that there are no seams that are usually found when knitting with double pointed needles.  So I found myself another pattern on ravelry that is knit with magic loop.  I wanted to knit my daughter some mittens with the red supreme possum merino that I purchased at the creative festival in Toronto.  But I only purchased one skein thinking that I would knit Michelle the gloves that I knit for my secret sister.  When  I had the gloves knit I realized they wouldn't be something that she would wear.  So I thought of maybe some mittens.  And it had to be using the magic loop technique.  After a quick search on ravelry I found these .  I cast on using judy'smagiccaston .  She gives some great tips for the rookie magic loop knitter.  The mittens knit up in approximately a day.

As you can see in the photo I didn't use the red possum merino purchased in Toronto because the skein only had 223 yards and I needed 400.  So I had to break into some of my own handspun.  Still need to find a pattern for the red skein.  Oh the fun of knitting!

 

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Pepita update updated

Finally finished the coveralls in time for the baby shower.  These things require many hours of endless garter stitch knitting and some concentration.  The top part down to the crotch is knit in the round on circular needles and then the legs and feet are knit magic loop technique.  It's a very easy technique but I noticed that I keep pulling the needles out a lot.  Could be the reason it took me so long to knit.  I knit the whole bottom twice. LOL It is a relief to finish and start knitting  the Awsome Possum gloves for my secret sister and daughter.  This knitting is endless!  And I love it!

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Awesome-Possum gloves

I had a great time at the Creativfestival in Toronto recently.  A friend and myself took a bus trip to Toronto to see what all the talk was about.  We were looking for some yarn that was unique, different.  It didn't take us very long until we found Cathy Binns booth.  She was selling possum yarn called Supreme Possum Merino.  A blend of 40% possum fur, 50% merino wool and 10% silk.  Wow soft, fuzzy and quite unique.  She had a single of what she had spun on her table and it reminded me of maybe alpaca on the spool.  We bought some of this great stuff which came with a pattern for Awesome-Possum Gloves if one wanted it.  I wanted it!  There was on display on the table a pair of these elegant gloves and they reminded me of my "secret sister"  who is a real elegant lady.  I also bought a ball of red yarn for my daughter who is all hyped up about the colour red these days.





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Meanwhile back at the lake... pepita updated

This coverall is coming along nicely.  I'm down to the first leg now, I use the word down because it's knit top down.  Lots of plain garter stitch knitting is boring enough. The legs are knit magic loop and this is my first time trying this method.  A lot easier than I thought thanks to this video .
Now I have to say something about finding the right buttons for this gift.  They just can't be found!!  They are hiding out there.  I'm looking for fairly small dog paw print buttons because the mother to be has a very large dog and we met on the laneway while she was walking him.  While at the Creativfestival in Toronto recently I found what I was looking for with two exceptions, 1. they were too big and 2. they were too expensive.  My search continues around the city.  Today I spun/plyed the last 480 yards of my Superwash merino and figure I have enough to finish this project.  My skein is in the sink soaking and then hanging over night and tomorrow then I will continue to knit the legs via magic loop.  In the meantime I've received an invitation to the recipient of the coveralls baby shower.  Very excited about meeting some of my neighbors.
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Pepita

The young couple at the end of our laneway are having a baby and I want to
give them something from my handspun. I decided on a pair of rompers which would be warm enough for a wee one, but they will be washed often. They needed to be superwash merino.  So a road trip to Rose Haven Farm in
Picton was planned.  Rick and Michelle were going that way Sunday afternoon anyway so I decided to tag along.  Rose Haven Farm store didn't
let me down.  I purchased some black/white/grey superwash Merino from dyeingforcolour.etsy.com expecting it to be the hohum superwash that I've
purchased in the past.  Not so this stuff! it is so soft and wonderful to spin
with just like spinning butter.  I decided to have a look into this dyeingforcolour.etsy.com and found she is from Trenton and has purchased a mill. Maybe another road trip is in my near future!
I found a great pattern over at ravelry called Pepita and this pattern calls for Superwash Merino, added a few rows of beads to the front.  Actually I planned to make three hearts out of beads but forgot that the romper is knit top down and the heart pattern was ending up upside down.  Didn't feel like
starting over so the diamond pattern was improvised.  ahem!

Here's a sneak peak!

Knitting elastic into socks

 I always have the same problem when knitting/wearing knitted socks.  I recently asked DH if he would like me to knit him some wool socks.  When he quickly answered "no thanks" I was at first a bit hurt but after questioning him further he actually made some sense.  "They don't stay up".  He is right, they don't.  I quickly went to my faithful stand by "google" and found some web sites explaining how to maintain the holding ability. "You can buy elastic invisible knitting thread that is very thin but highly elastic and will not alter the thickness of your socks. There are two ways to use it and both are equally effective", it stated.
1.
 Tie the ends of the yarn and invisible elastic thread together. Cast the stitches on to the knitting needle as you normally would, using the combination of yarn and elastic.

2. 

 You should knit the entire ribbing, using the combination of yarn and elastic.

3.

Cut both the elastic and yarn 2 or 3 inches from the last knitted stitch. Tie the yarn back on, making sure you include the elastic in the knot. This will secure the end of the elastic so it does not slip up into the cuff over time.

Adding Elastic After the Sock is Finished

4.

Thread a sewing needle with the invisible elastic. You will be sewing on the inside of the cuff, so turn the sock inside-out to make it easier.

5.

Sew the first stitch just below the upper ridge of the cuff and secure it by looping it through itself with a second stitch.

6.

Start sewing with a continuous running stitch around the top edge of the cuff and keep spiraling down making rows about 1/4 inch apart. If it is a large, loosely-knitted cuff, sew into every knitted row.

7.

Sew to the end of the cuff and finish off with several stitches sewn into each other to secure the elastic.
                                       Problem solved Marriage saved!
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Anniversary Socks

I found four balls of Kroy 4 ply wool at a flea market recently and had in mind that I would knit myself a pair of socks.  The price was right just $3.00 for the four new balls.  But what to knit.  Since this is the year of my
40th wedding anniversary I decided to knit Anniversary Socks from Nancy Bush from her book Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave.

So far I've restarted the things three times, making mistakes such as dropping stitches.  The DP needles I'm using are long so I can't use that as an excuse.  I think that the yarn is so dark I'm having trouble seeing it.  I guess it doesn't help that this new place is so dark under all the trees.
Only the front of the sock is decorated with a lace panel. Apparently in the style of nineteenth-century European womens stockings, only the front of the socks is decorated to show beneath a long skirt.  The rest of the sock is simple and nothing out of the ordinary.  I like the way Nancy Bush has done the cable stitches on this sock.  Left cross (LC2) worked over 2 stitches.  Knit into the back of the second st on left needle, knit into the front of the first st, then slip both sts off the needle.  Easy, neat way of knitting cables for a sock.  Maybe not new to some but new to me!  I like it!

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More of the wonderful same around here lately

      My spinning and knitting projects are going by the way side these days.  I didn't think I would ever say that, but it's true!  I do try each day to knit a few rows on my kuusklacecowl but that's about it.  My spinning wheel is sitting where it always does in the living room but I don't spin much.  Last evening while Rick and myself were busy clearing/rakeing the green slime from the beach so that the grandkids could swim we didn't notice these  guys swimming around our feet.  Some of the neighbours feed them and they have become accustomed to people.  Little do they know a hungry preditor is lurking on the front porch just waiting for "hunting season" to arrive!  Just sayin!

                                          
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Kuusk (pronounced "koosk")Lace Cowl

It's been some time since my last post.  The new place is taking up all my time.  But don't think that I haven't been thinking about you all, as I have.  I've been doing some spinning very little and have finished the secret sister mittens to give to my secret sister. I haven't gifted her with them yet, it's just that it's the middle of the summer and who wants to received a pair of mitts now.  I may wait until at least fall when thoughts start turning to winter.   Started knitting another cowl last week, the kuusk lace cowl.  I'm alway drawn to lace.  This one is estonian lace with some more nupps.  Not a lot just enought to bring back all those memories of knitting the  queensilvialaceshawl
I'm knitting several repeats of the pattern in hopes that it will be long enough to go over my head this winter to keep the snow off my curly hair.
Very easy peasy pattern, don't have to think and no safety lines.  Nice finished object for not so much effort.

Yummy smoothie's by Alexamucus

Here are some recipes from Alexamucus
PLEASE TRY THEM IF YOU HAVE A BLENDER

1.  Milk
2.  chocolate chips
3.  peanut butter
4.  cookies (chunks ahoy)
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy!
Yum Yum

1,  Apple slices (1 apple)
2.  strawberrys slices (3 strawberrys)
3.  Milk
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy

1.  Smarties
2.  Reesses pieces
3.  Ice cream
4.  chocolate sause
5.  whipped cream
Put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy!

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See you at the lake

This post is not related to knitting or spinning but maybe indirectly it is.  It does explain why the long lapses in posts and knitting projects!
We decided to sell our house and move to the lake last August.  That day seems so long ago now.  If I knew what I know now about buying,selling, packing, moving day, unpacking I'm not sure that I would do it again.  Well not in the near future anyway.
It all began with an idea I had for dh.  He's talking about retiring early.  If he did so at the edge of a hayfield where we lived until this past weekend, he would have sat on the couch watching TV with absolutely nothing else to do.  Very boring!  So I decided we would try to find a home on the water.  We did find a place on Rock Lake in Verona.  So we had to sell our home.  We contacted a real estate agent and we began the up, down world of trying to find a buyer.  I listed the house on KIJIJI and within a very short time the place was sold.  Who could beleive it!  Not me.  Someone actually wanted to buy the house we have lived in for almost 40 years. 
Then came the downsizing and the dump runs.  I never thought I would become best friends with the man at the dump.  and his wife actually brings cookies for everyone who visits, isn't that great!  We probably did about 24 dump runs at least.  I think we lived out of boxes for approx. a month.  and then we ran out of boxes and things got dumped into garbage bags.  But at least I labelled the bags.
Moving day came and we were ready, the house was cleaned and we got out on time but then we got to our new place.  The sellers didn't have their/our house emptied.  Furniture everywhere in the house, garage and bunkie and we had no place to sleep for the night because our house was taken over by it's new owners (not us) what to do!  what a delema.  We had two 17 ft UHaul trucks filled with our downsized furniture, from the house and garage and no place to take them to.  We were in trouble!  and the weather man was calling for a bad storm on Saturday. The roadway was extremely hard to get into on the sunnyiest of days.  So what to do.  I called our realestate agent and he had no answer except go to the place anyway and push the sellers stuff out the door.  But how could you do that to a widow.  So we came up with the solution.  Park the U hauls overnight at our son's mother in laws place and sleep at my mom's place (we are selling that place as my mom has passed away) and get up the next morning and start over. 
We got up the next morning, had breakfast at Cora's and drove out to pick up the trucks and set out to the lake.  We were very worried about how all of this was going to play out but funny thing (not funny haw haw but funny that's great) we made it after all that worrying and fussing.  the trip in was great and when we got to the lake the seller was moved out of the house.  she had lots of stuff in the garage  and bunkie but we were able to move into the house while she moved the stuff from the garage.  It took us all day but we made it.  and we got to meet a great person who loved the place and was very glad to meet and become friends with the new owners. (Us)
She told us all the things about the place and we now have her memories as well as ours to make.    All in all not a bad move after all!

                              But this view makes it all worth while. 
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Secret Sister mittens

For christmas this year my "Secret Sister" gave me some Leicester fibre she purchased at WoolTyme.  It was dyed and then twisted into a braide.  The color is called ablaze and it actually reminds me of a blaze/fire.  Very pretty colorway!  Bev isn't a spinner but she is a knitter.  She knew where to go to buy yarn but not fibre.  She told me at our "Secret sister' dinner/gift exchange that she just walked into WoolTyme and said I want something that a friend can spin. I was very impressed not only with her but also with WoolTyme!  Great that they are starting to meets the needs of spinners as well as knitters.  Great big plus for the store.
I chose this pattern because of yardage.  These mittens pattern called Maplewood only require 200 yards.  The weight of the fibre was only 100 grams just enough for mittens or a cowl.  Also the pattern was free over at Ravelry
The mittens took only two days to knit  Although I am not being quite honest, I've only knit one mitt!

                                                         
I decided to spin the fibre worsted (keeping the twist out of the draft zone) making it less fuzzy.  By spinning it worsted also I wanted to show the stitch definition more clearly.  Until now I haven't noticed a big difference between spinning worsted and spinning woolen, just the fuzz.  But something I noticed when I was setting the twist this time, the yarn sunk to the bottom of the sink by itself.  It didn't stay afloat as when I spin woolen.  So I guess there is more air in woolen spun yarn than worsted spun yarn.  Something to think about!!
Now I had better get at that second mitten!!
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Knit Knackers

A couple of weeks ago a great friend took me on a road trip to Ottawa, Ontario.  We visited the Byward Market, had lunch in one of the cafe' stores and then we went to knitknackersyarnwarehouse.  This place is a spinners/weavers dream come true.  Wall to wall yarn, knitting supplies, patterns, and at the very back of the store a lineup of spinning wheels just sitting there for anyone to give them a spin.  And even a line up of different fibres to test spin with.  I don't remember anything else about the store because as soon as I rounded the corner and my eyes saw the bins and cupboards of fibre on display, I was awestruck, and I quickly made my way to the back of the store.  My friend was interested in yarn, which was there also and at great prices but I was interested in the the spinning fibre which was priced at  unbelievably low prices.  For instance Suri Alpaca $7.25/100 grams, I bought 400 grams.  There was mulberry silk in bins which I also bought, with a relatively long staple length, South African fine wool which the clerk tells me spins beautifully.  Black alpaca for $12.50/100 grams, purple corriedale which cost $5.95/100 grams. There was so much more, love that store. We were like two kids in a candy store! 
 I couldn't wait to get home to start spinning.  I wanted to try spinning the suri alpaca first, it has a long staple length and is very fuzzy. I'm spinning it worsted which means keeping the twist out of the fibre zone.  Hoping to keep the fuzz down and also there is cabling in the project that I have in mind to make and I want the stitch definition to stand out. It really wanted to be spun woolen, which means letting the twist enter the draft zone, but this made it too fuzzy.  I'm not an expert at this and this is just trial and error for me at this point.  After Spunning/plying and setting the twist I have 280 yard finished for this sweater. My yarn turned out a bit heavy, wondering if  maybe I should have spun it woolen.  Can't seem to find that middle ground! 
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Another cowl

Just another cowl!  That's what I've been up to these days.  I purchased 137 grams of alpaca/Birds of Paradise Silk at the Sheep Dog Trials this past summer with the intentions of making another shawl.  The fibre was a very pretty grey alpaca with silk dyed blue, purple and I think pink carded into it on a drum carder.  I decided to spin it worsted, which means keeping the twist out of the draft zone.  I began to notice that the single of yarn was becoming what I hate to call "barber pole."  A very nice color for socks or even scarves or mittens but not for shawls.  So a change of plans!  I had a good friend have a look to see what she thought and she said she thought I should ply it 3 ply.  what a great idea!  This would give the finished yarn more spots of color throughout, hopefully filling in the colors.  It worked, it really worked!  I didn't get the yardage needed for a shawl but what I came up with was 420 yards of a very pretty blue/purple yarn with hints of pink throughout. Enough for this cowl and maybe even a pair of mittens to match!

                                                     

                                                Finished the mittens   
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Barad Dur shawl a bit of a disappointment

If you're planning to knit this shawl using the written instructions don't.  They are different from the chart.   The charted instructions are correct but I'm still waiting for the designer to get back to me with her erratas on the written instructions!
It's been an okay knit but because of the kfb stitches in row 19, I've had to put in a safety line after row 18.  It's very easy to make mistakes at row 20 because of all the k2tog and ssk stitches.  And correcting mistakes at this row is very hazardous to your health, or anyone else's who might be in the room/house, if you don't have a saftey line in place.  Just sayin!

I spun  some  wine/brown corriedale fibre purchased from Rose Haven Farms in Picton, Ontario for this shawl.  What a great fibre this is, the colour is so rich.  Actually I don't really know the color, at the store in the lights I thought I was purchasing red, when I got home it appeared wine and in the night lights it appears brown.  So it's a mystery, and I love a mystery!

Can't wait to wear this shawlette this fall/winter, who knows what color it will be in that light!

                                                       
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