What Hath Spring Sprung?

It has been way too long since I've posted.  I've been knitting a lot, though.  And thinking of lots of things I want to say, here or somewhere, and just not finding the time.  I'll try to catch up a little!

It has been a very busy spring.  We have officially joined the ranks of over-scheduled families.  (Is there a badge?)  It happened SO quickly; I didn't see it coming.  Eli wanted to play Little League, but he was not going to give up cello (nor did we want him to) nor Hebrew/Sunday school (he would give that up, and I would let him, but his father feels strongly that the pain of religious education must be handed down from generation to generation.)  And recitals and science fairs and Auden wanted to play soccer ...  And my parents were here visiting from California this week, and last weekend was a reunion with my college roommates, and this week the children are in a play and next week I have a concert with rehearsals all week ... next year something may have to go!  

Knitting (combined with mindless television) has been a great stress-reducer.  Except all my knitting has been going wrong!

I started this sweater for Auden, Gretel by Penny Straker, but even though I swatched very carefully, my gauge got much tighter when I knit in the round and the sweater was clearly going to be too small.  Now I am bored of so much stockinette and think I will knit her a cardigan from Rowan Pipsqueaks instead, even though I love the Gretel and have heard wonderful things about Penny Straker patterns.

And then there were the socks for Will, which I went great guns on until it became clear I was going to run out of yarn; I don't know why I thought one skein of Cherry Tree Hill DK was going to be enough, but I did.  So I thought I'd make the toes gray, with leftover Lorna's Laces, and then I ran out of THAT and now the toes are purple and gray. *sigh*  They are not the things of beauty I once envisioned, though I know the toes won't show, and I haven't been able to get motivated to finish them off.

THEN I decided to make the cabled purse from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts for my friend Julie's 40th birthday, using the leftover Koigu from the scarf I made my friend Alison for her 40th birthday.  I didn't check gauge, and halfway through the purse was coming out VERY tiny! About 3" wide instead of the 5.25 called for in the pattern.  I couldn't bear to rip it out – it's not a hard pattern but it's a little bit fussy – so I went ahead and finished it and managed to spray-block it (around a plastic container lid) to about 5".  Hopefully it will stay that way!  It is a fun way to use Koigu; much quicker than socks and a better spring/summer gift than a scarf, I think.  This could be my go-to girlfriend gift.

Still plugging along on my cabled cardigan; no disasters there, thank goodness!

I will try to be back sooner.  Thank you for putting up with me!  And thank you all for your wonderful comments, which I love reading despite my lack of replying.  

I'm Still Here!

I've even been knitting. Finished these red socks for Eli, made progress on my Bridget cardigan and started these socks for Will:

I'm using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Sport, which is such a pleasure.  Very squooshy and *so* quick to knit.   I'm in love with the colorway (Java).    I broke my no-yarn-buying resolve and ordered it from A Sheep's Tale, which was having a fantastic sale on CTH.  (They still are, but I don't know how many colors are left.)    I really love it, especially after my traumatic experience making the red socks.  The yarn itself -- Lang Jawoll -- was fine, though I think it may be thinner than your average sock yarn -- but my attempts to use the spool of matching reinforcing thread that came with it was a comedy of errors.  I can't bear to recount them all here, but suffice it to say that reinforcing thread, or at least this reinforcing thread, is a TERRIBLE thing to rip out.  Up there with mohair.  I ended up with an enormous snarled mess and having to cut the thread several times.  I also didn't enjoy knitting with the thread and I didn't like how dense it made the fabric.  So I won't do that again!  The socks are nice and cheery, though, and Eli seems to like them.

I finished one front of the Bridget cardigan and have  moved onto the second -- so far so good.  I am such a nimrod, though, that after berating myself for forgetting to write down what needles I used for the ribbing of the first front, I then forgot to write down which needles I used for the ribbing of the second one.   'Cause I wouldn't want the back to match, either, would I.   *sigh*  I think it was 6s, though.  


I apologize for my long absence.  I have been busy, but also thinking a lot about this blog and what/who it's for.  I imagine many people are having the same thoughts since Ravelry came along.  Anyway, I won't bore you with that now.  Plus, my children are demanding a game of LIFE, so I  have to go.

Until next time!  Happy Spring, everyone.  It's coming, I'm sure of  it!

Under the Wire

These are for my mother's birthday, which is Friday. I finished them just before noon and mailed them off, with the post office's assurances that they would be in California in two days. Whew! Kind of silly to spend months on a pair of socks and then rush through the finishing. I didn't have time to wash them – although I'm partly glad because I would be so depressed if they pilled too much right away. The cuffs were already looking discouragingly frayed; I had to trim off the fuzz and
escaping antennae. I liked knitting with the Regia Silk, and it looks very nice, but I don't know if I'll get much feedback on how it wears. (Or even *if* it's worn. We shall not think of that!:)

Not being pure silk, these do not drape in the luxurious manner of the book illustration; however they did insist on posing with pearls, just like in the book.



In the end, the fit was OK. If I made another pair, which I probably won't, I would change the shape of the heel flap. And I'm sure there were some minor errors in the pattern that aren't in the errata. But overall, a very nice pattern.

By a stroke of knitter's luck, a piece of our car began dragging on the ground yesterday and I had to spend the morning at the Honda dealership while it was repaired. Only $20.99 (to replace broken clips on the undercarriage) and more than an hour of uninterrupted, guilt-free daytime knitting! I was very happy.



Pattern: Anniversary Socks, from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks
Yarn: Regia Silk, Color 002
Needles: Knitpicks Options DPN, Size 2.5 mm (The size between a U.S. 1 and 2)
Modifications: Only to fix errors. If you make these, CHECK THE CORRECTIONS!!!!

Moving Right Along

Well, after working on every small project I could think of instead, I have finally started the Bridget cardigan. So far so good! I am still amazed by the very fact of cabling (and the fact that I can do it) though I think some of that will wear off by the time I get through two fronts and the back ... there are a lot of cables here. And no charts. Charts would help a lot. I may need to do something about that.

One early success: I was able to drop down four rows to add in a cable I'd left out (one of the little ones on the left -- you can see where it's kind of loose) instead of having to rip back. Baby steps! The Options needle points are killing my fingers with all the pushing through cables; I might switch to my Inox and see if they're pointy enough to do the job.

So that should keep me busy for a while. It's not traveling knitting, though. Nor is this, the semi-abandoned Anniversary Sock:


I tried it on again yesterday. Can anyone else see the skewing I'm talking about in the picture above? The diamonds are not symmetrical ... they pull to the right and kind of slant over into the cable on the right, while there's a neat straight division between them and the cable on the left. Did I do something wrong to cause this? Or is it just part of the design? It bothers me less than it did before. Anyway, I wasn't going to rip back because of that, but because I thought it was too short and the heel fit badly:


I love the eye-of-partridge heel but this one is a strange shape -- very short and wide, not a square at all. If I rip out past the heel will I ever re-knit the rest of the sock? and if I don't, will I ever re-knit the second sock??!! I think I should finish these socks; it's very nice yarn and they're very pretty. And they're for my mother, who so far has only one garter stitch scarf to show for her knitting daughter. I think I will make Kathy help decide when she comes here next week. (!!!!) All my knitting decisions rely heavily on Kathy. :)

And finally, I realized I never posted a picture of my Hannukah yarn. My sister-in-law Nancy gave me The Book of Yarn, which I love, and this beautiful sock yarn:


The colors, especially of the one on the right, are not ones I would have chosen myself, which I like, because I tend to buy the same colors over and over. Eli is already clamoring for socks from the "fire" yarn!

Rufflicious

Here is Auden modeling Kira's Ruffles scarf, which I sent off in the mail today. I think it's cute – I don't love my choice of yarn, which made the scarf a little too thick and heavy. I hope it's long enough – I could have gone longer but I was so bored of knitting it! plus the heavy thing. And then I squashed it in the box with my nieces' other gifts, who knows what it will look like when it arrives!


Pattern: Ruffles scarf from Scarf Style.
Yarn: Scoubidu in stonewashed purple, 2.5 skeins
Needles: US6 straights.
Modifications: None

And here is my Anniversary sock for my mother, in progress. It is a very nice lace pattern, but it does something strange when I try it on and look at it stretched out - the lace skews to one side. I will have to take a close-up picture to show you. I am not changing it now, and I guess I'd better do the other one to match, but it looks odd to me.


These are clearly not going to be done for Hannukah, though I am knitting them faster than any sock I've knit before! I'm using my new Knitpicks DPNs, size 1.5 – I like that they are shorter than my other needles and the gauge seems good. My poor fingers are quite sore from their sharp points, though (good for the mini-cables) and I'm not sure how I'm feeling about their weight.

So that's all the knitting that's going on chez Hilary! I need to start something else mindless to take with me to Wizard of Oz rehearsals (Eli's a Munchkin) etc. Maybe I will make a teacher scarf after all ...

Hilary See, Hilary Do

or ... just trying to keep up with Kathy! I swear, someone at the Knitter's Guild recommended Monkey Socks to me before I knew everyone else in the World on the Web was making them. Not that it matters, there is not a lot of crossover between my Real Life friends and acquaintances and the knitting blog world.

It's my first picot edge, and I'm suitably charmed by it. It doesn't seem very stretchy though ... is it going to stay up on my leg? I did the whole edge on 1s and was planning on going back up to 2s for the rest of the sock, but I stayed on 1s and now I'm not sure about that. It is very dense, and I don't think I love that. (The pattern is written for 2s, and I knit tightly anyway.)

So I think I'll start the second sock and do it on 2s for comparison (instead of ripping it out and then wondering if I liked it the first way better, which is what I was about to do.) What's a project without a little angst and indecision?

These are my car knitting for the trip to Michigan. We leave Friday, so I won't be posting for a while.

Happy Fourth to those celebrating!

All the leaves are purple ...

and the sky is gray.

This is the beginnings of an Embossed Leaves sock, knit on the train to NYC this weekend. The leaves pattern is such fun to knit! I couldn't figure out the tubular cast-on, despite the best efforts of my sister-in-law, aka Master Knitter Kathy. So I used a regular long-tail cast-on and went up to size 3 needles after it looked tiny on 2s. It is still pretty small ... enough that I took it off the needles on the train to try it on. It's going to be a tight fit over the heel, but it went over so I decided not to rip it out. I'd like to make it bigger on the second sock, though. (Suggestions?)

My train-knitting experience did give me one thing to add to my list of must-haves for the travel knitting bag: scrap yarn in a contrasting color. All I had to put the stitches on when I wanted to try it on was the sock yarn itself, and it was not fun getting them back on the needles. But you probably already knew that.

Coming back on the train I decided to try to read the Aeneid (the new translation that's getting rave reviews in Aeneid circles!) instead of knitting ... I am still only partway into the introduction, so we'll see how that goes!

(And the sky really is gray. It has snowed pretty much every day since mid-January, when our up-til-then snowfree weather changed. The snow's up past our knees and the children are happy, at least ...)

Socks for my Dad

Done! Never again, size 1 needles AND plain yarn AND miles of stockinette. However, I think they look pretty good. They are a little big on me – hence the lumpy toes in the picture – but I'm hoping my dad's feet are enough bigger (but not TOO much bigger) to make that work out.
I love the fabric size 1 needles make. And I even did the ribbing and heel in 0's. But damn! it takes forever ...

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, color: Pewter (9ns). 2 skeins
Pattern: Thuja, from knitty.com
Needles: US 0s and 1s dpn.
Modification: This pattern is written for heavier yarn, so I followed the directions in Sensational Socks for a 5-stitch pattern. Cast on 80 stitches. Went down a needle size for the ribbing and heel.
In Sensational Socks, Charlene Schurch recommends picking up extra stitches after knitting the heel flap to avoid holes. I believe she recommends one extra stitch, but I think I picked up like a bazillion. No holes! but it did make for some interesting math.

Gray Sock

This isn't the greatest picture (no, really) but you get an idea of the pattern ... you can see it a lot more when it is slightly stretched, which in theory it will be on the recipient's leg.
I think I am going to end the ribs when I get to the heel, even though the pattern calls for them to continue all down the top of the foot. Maybe because the gauge is so fine, and there's just one purl instead of a wider rib, it feels slightly beady inside the sock to me. And while I'm hoping the above-mentioned slight stretch will take care of that, I don't want to risk it being uncomfortable under the shoe.

At least it is progressing far faster than I had feared, due in part to a nasty virus that kept me from doing much besides sitting on the couch all week.

That's all I've got. Blog posting doesn't get much more exciting than this, does it?

Billions and Billions of Stitches ....

I see them stretching far ahead into the future. I'm doing the ribbing on Size 0 needles, which I've never used before – maybe that will make the Size 1s seem pleasantly large when I get to the leg. But probably not. These are for my dad, and it may not be the wisest move ever to be trying new yarn gauge and needle sizes when the intended recipient is 3,000 miles away. (I wonder what the math is on how much longer it will take the same knitter to finish a sock on 1s instead of 2s.)

To motivate myself, I have signed up for Socktoberfest 2006. It's my first knitalong, and it seems appropriately undemanding. But since I was casting on for these anyway last night, and I have another pair of socks in progress, it seemed like a good fit.

A Socksy Family

Eli's socks are done! They are very red, and he is very happy with them, and now we all have handknit socks. I feel so homey I can hardlly stand it. You can't hardly even tell that the cuffs are different – I knit the second one with size 1 needles because the first one was a bit loose. I really like the way the yarn knits up: very soft and squishy.

Yarn: Cascade Fixation, slightly more than 1 skein.
Needles: Leg and Instep: Susan Bates DP #3. Cuff #1, heel, sole and toe: Susan Bates DP #2. Cuff #2: Susan Bates DP #1
Pattern: Modified Hot Wheels Socks from trek casts on
(I used the pattern for the legs, except I cast on 48 instead of 56, after MANy false starts, and I went back to my Yankee Knitter pattern for the heel flap and foot.)

I have belatedly realized I need to write down this stuff, after starting to knit the second sock of a pair I'd started over the summer and realizing I didn't remember what pattern it was!

What You Can Make With One Ball of Cascade Fixation (not)

A pair of child's socks ... almost. I am still not entirely believing of this, despite the hard evidence in the form of an unfinished sock and no more yarn. People make adult pairs of Peds with one ball! How could I not get a pair of child's socks? Clearly my knitting must be at fault.

But whatever, another trip to the yarn store was required, and since I will now have an almost entire ball of Fixation left over, I needed something to do with it ...

I think this zebra yarn is kind of funky and will work with red toes. Don't you? Perhaps red cuffs too. Red heels would be especially nice, but wouldn't that require me learning how to do a new kind of heel?

Anyway. I should make my Dad's socks first. This, of course, requires learning my gauge in a whole new kind of sock yarn, which is not QUITE the kind of knitting that lends itself to the tv-watching I must also do. I'm exhausted already.

Red Sock

Children's socks are a joy because they're SMALL. Of course, they may be less of a joy when the children they go on wear them around with no shoes and ruin them, but that's in the future, we shall not think of it. I am sure the fact that my children can wear handknitted socks and sweaters will completely make up for all the times I have yelled at them and been mean to them.

Ha.

Sock Business

Behold, the latest sock. It took me a long time to get this sock going. First there was the fiasco with cotton yarn, which I will get back to one of these days, just not now. Then it took me three tries to get a pattern that worked. First I tried Open Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks, but the lace got lost and it just looked messy. Plus, required too much concentration. Then, slipped-stitch rib from the same book. I like that pattern A LOT, and it is very nice and three-dimensional. But while the slipped stitches are supposed to be good for preventing hand-painted sock yarn for pooling, I thought they were just muddying up this (presumably machine-painted) colorway. (Which I love, by the way! Isn't it pretty? And I have enough for two pairs of socks.) So finally I settled on the Twin Rib, still from the same book. There was a lot of ripping, but all the patterns were from the six-stitch pattern section, so I didn't have to start completely over. The Twin Rib is very straightforward, very good for doing while watching tv.

The Wallaby is also progressing nicely, although I'm not sure I like it anymore. There is something ... clunky .... about it in general, and some specifics I don't love. * I think I need to keep going, though. I like the yarn and the knitting.

In other news, how about that Elizabeth and Anthony??!!! I was all excited and hopeful for them yesterday, but today reality set in. I'm not sure that's going to work out. Not now, anyway.

Man Socks

Finished Will's socks! I was mightily bored of that pattern before I was done. Now I would like to branch out and try some more ambitious sock patterns, but I have these piles of self-striping/patterning Regia ... maybe I can find something that works with that. I *cough* may have obtained a copy of "Sensational Socks."

The Wallaby continues to baffle and amuse me. It turns out my 9s are too big, not too small, and yet I think the fabric is borderline too tight. And this cannot possibly be of interest to anyone but myself (if that), even my faithful sister-in-law. *sigh*

I need to figure out my traveling projects, and soon! Never mind that I have not figured out what clothes we will need. We must have priorities!

Pattern: Yankee Knitter Classic Socks
Yarn: Regia 4fadig - Jacquard Color
Needles: My grandmother's shiny blue Boye Size 2 aluminum "knitting pins"

Two Socks Are Better Than One

Yay! A pair of socks. They're so comfortable! I don't know why that surprises me so much. I love them. Now I need to start a new project before my parents get here (Wednesday) and I can't get to the yarn stash (in the guestroom.)

Oh and ...


HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!!!!!

This is the Stash a Skein Built

My sock yarn stash. Entirely acquired in the past two weeks. The front row is the cotton blend yarn that came in the mail today from Little Knits. The rest is from my local yarn store, where it was on clearance ($3 a skein! How could I not?), except for the skein at the top right, which is from eBay, because I thought I needed it to finish the first pair of socks I started (see below). That's what started the whole sock yarn shopping spree in the first place ... only it turned out in the end that I already had the skein I needed. Oh well.

There will be many socks in my future. Someday I may even try another brand.

Auden's Rainbow Socks

Wool socks, just in time for summer.

Pattern: Classic Socks from Yankee Knitter Designs
Yarn: Regia Ringel, 1 skein
Needles: Clover Bamboo #2

(Those toes look awfully pointy, don't they!)

First Sock (Singular), April 2006

Pattern: Classic Socks from Yankee Knitter Designs
Yarn: Regia Mini Ringel
Needles: Clover Bamboo #2