Knits

Well, I finished one of the socks. Hurrah.

Notice the lack of any excitement in that statement?

Moving to the DPNs definitely helped me speed things up and move them to a state of completion. However, remember when I alluded to the fact that after I turned the heel, things seemed a bit tight? Well, I should’ve been smarter and realised that they weren’t magically going to grow.

I wasn’t smarter because I consulted the pattern several times, as well as other toe-up patterns because it just seemed the gusset and heel couldn’t possibly be stretchy enough, but all the patterns said the same thing — no increase in the number of stitches in this area — so I thought maybe something would happen when I did the rest of the sock. I can get my foot into the sock just fine, but I cannot pull the heel over my heel. It’s just too tight. I know I have a high instep, but with something pliable like a sock, this generally doesn’t cause a problem. I think despite the other toe-up patterns I consulted, the problems lies in both the yarn I used and the pattern. The pattern has zero give to it. The yarn is 100% wool so it has some natural stretch, but it definitely doesn’t retain it’s shape (you should see the state of the boyfriend’s socks) and it’s so fuzzy from being handled during the knitting process.

I’m really disappointed as I like the pattern and I think it works really well with this yarn because, as evidenced in the ribbing at the cuff and the boyfriend’s socks, this yarn has a tendency to pool in a spiral pattern. For whatever reason, this pattern helped negate that fate and really allowed the variations in colour to be spread around the sock. I’m not sure what to do. For now, these are going in the knitting basket because they’re really making me feel defeated.

I want to knit other toe-up sock patterns because I really like how the toe came out and getting to choose how high up I want my sock to go without fretting that I’ll run out of yarn, but I think I’m going to run into the same problem. I just can’t figure out where the problem lies. My short row heel looks fine and I did as the recipe said. All I can figure is that I need another inch or so in that gusset which means adding stitches, but how and where?

I’d really like to hear if other people have had this problem with a toe-up up sock or a short row heel. If you’ve knit a top-down sock with a short row heel, have you increased the stitches you worked or was it half the number in the leg?

I’m definitely going to have to swatch something tonight and hopefully cast on as I’ve got a trip ahead of me and nothing else really on the go that I’d want to take. I may even swatch for my sockapalooza socks… Here’s some things making me happy

Dakota in a box — A field of blue bells in the woods somewhere between my house and The Boyfriend’s — Travis’s new album which came out in the UK today

And I am so not a pink girl, but I really like these Converse and am tempted to get them!

I’m afraid I’m not really any further along with the Falling Leaves socks. I’ve done one pattern repeat since I turned the heel. Despite the excitement of having two socks at once from the toe-up thanks to using an extremely long circular needle, I was finding it really wasn’t making me feel like I’d made any progress. And because of the need to readjust the needles four times each round, it really slows things down. Maybe two circulars is the way to go…

Anyway, I ended up moving one sock onto a set of DPNs. Hopefully this will mean I will actually make progress and finish a sock. Unfortunately, I only had one set of DPNs small enough and there’s only 4 of them. They’re actually a nice set of 5″ aluminium needles inherited from my grandma - no idea what brand. Last night I was trying to find some DPNs for sock knitting and wasn’t really having any luck. I’m after 5″ length with relatively sharp points. Any recommendations? Previously I tried some bamboo needles and I think maybe I got a bad batch as one of the needles was *really* bendy and the tips dulled quickly.

In other news, I got moo cards. I choose 20 different pictures so I got 5 of each card - I even got two knitting pictures in there. Heh. And yesterday I had a work away half-day for “strategic planning” which of course didn’t really happen. It was held in a 13th century Abbey. Very, very pretty building and grounds. Unfortunately when I went to take pictures all sorts of people were completely intrigued that I had a camera and sort of followed me so I didn’t really feel comfortable taking pictures with an audience so I just quickly snapped some things which didn’t turn out very good. I’d actually like to visit the place again just to take some pictures!

A cause for celebration… I turned the heel on both the Falling Leaves socks this weekend! Hurray! The end is in sight! Okay so I have to do the legs on both, but it has taken me forever to get here.

Since I’m doing toe-up (and this is only my second pair of socks ever), I was a bit worried about the heel. I did it one at a time and the second one came out better - much tidier since I’d developed my method of knitting in the wraps better. I hope these stretch a bit because they seem a titch too small right now.

Falling Leaves stitch pattern on the in-step — Sole stitches

This past weekend saw me sitting outside and knitting on these socks. The weather was fantastic. On Sunday The Boy and I went to Blenheim Palace and had a picnic and walk around. We went through the hedge maze and butterfly house. There were too many families w/ little children rushing through the small butterfly house while I was just trying to enjoy looking at the butterflies and take a couple of pictures. I should’ve taken a picture of the plaque telling you what butterflies were in there!

I think I’ve convinced my mom that she can bring over an obscene amount of yarn for me if she sticks it in a space bag and sucks the air out. Now to just finalise the giant list because I cannot afford everything on it. Obviously she will bring me other important imports from the states like chilies and things for The Boy. Oh and those books I ordered.

Despite desperately wanting to knit, things just aren’t working out right now. I got distracted with Shedir when chatting to my friend and even though I am certain I did whatever I did right, I did it in the wrong place. I’m not all that excited about tinking back 128 stitches. I might just rip it out and start again (I’d only finished one repeat of the cable pattern) and remedy the holes thing while I’m at it. I just find the whole pattern really fiddley and if it weren’t a request from my sister, I wouldn’t knit it.
I really want to knit my sister another hat, but I’m sort of at a loss as to which pattern because she chose some very lightweight wools and I’d really have to double them up which then means I wouldn’t have enough yardage. I tried to start on Shining Star which I had attempted last year, but I was far too much of a novice. It is just so fiddley to get started. I think I might start it on two circulars versus a set of six DPNs (I don’t even have six of the right size DPNs anyway).

It’d be nice if I could figure out what my problem is with that Amelia hat! Maybe some day I’ll actually make it to the stitch n’ bitch and I can seek advice. I’ve not yet undone the too big socks, the scarf is very slow to progress for I don’t know what reason. I desperately want something quick and easy to knit or something to hold my attention so I actually finish it. Maybe that’s a call for the socks to be undone because that was going swimmingly until I tried them on and found them to be way too large…

We got a substantial amount of snow here yesterday. Most of it has gone as it warmed up and rained today. I went to London for work and they didn’t have nearly as much snow as we did. By the time I got there most of it was gone, but it still made for some pretty scenes. This is St James’s Park at the Buckingham Palace end.

– Edited to add –
I ripped out the too big socks and re-cast on. I’ve only done a few rounds of the toe - I’ve got 14 more to go until I start the pattern - but I am so glad I did this because it is really satisfying. I love it! I love the tiny little stitches and the tidy toe the Turkish cast-on provides without any fuss. If I weren’t so tired and in need of a hot chocolate to take to bed, I’d knit those 14 rounds so I could start on the instep tomorrow…

As with everywhere, we’ve been having very odd weather. It goes from being very spring-like to the throes of winter within days and back again. Yesterday we had snow. And not just a dusting as generally happens once or twice a winter here, but proper snow. In most areas this snow only lasted until midday, but there will still places with some snow by my house, places where the sun doesn’t get too much. It’s another very bright and sunny day and thus, very cold. There was a good quarter-inch of ice on my bicycle this morning. I went out to do a minor repair and gave up quickly because my hands just got too cold - I could drag it into my flat, but it’s not that urgent, yet.

On the knitting front, I wish things were moving along faster. I really must try to make an effort to learn continental knitting. What happens is that I remind myself of this as I’m working on a project and it’s going slowly, but then the next thing comes along and I start right away only to once again remember my plan to learn continental knitting. I don’t want to be practising this technique in the midst of a project as I am sure my gauge will change.

I sent off the hat to my sister, but had a hiccup when righting out the zip code and managed to put the zip code of my alma mater (which is just up the road, but still). Argh. Hopefully it won’t cause too much of a delay. I haven’t picked up the Cinnabar scarf in a week or two. I really must pick this back up as I want to take it to Prague and that’s not all that far off (when you consider how slowly I knit and how easily distracted I am!). The socks would be farther along if I didn’t manage to forget a number of yarn overs in a particular round which meant tinking to put these in place.

However, tinking stitches when you are knitting two socks on a single circular needle? Not easy. It involved getting out some DPNs to move the sock in question on to and tinking back, making sure not to tink too far back, and then reknitting, again without going too far forward. And then getting the sock back onto the cable needle, oi. I’d like to say it was because of the half glass of wine or the exhaustion I’ve had this week, but it took some serious mental acrobatics to figure out how to get the sock back on the needle correctly so that I could continue knitting both at once on the same needle. I’d like to say that I hope this doesn’t happen again, with this project or any other, but I know me and I suspect it will - must pay better attention to how things are placed!

Oh also I was reversing the entire chart to have a mirror image sock (e.g. pattern reads k2tog k3 yo k5 ssk), but I noticed that the decreases on the second sock were standing up versus lying flat. I still don’t really understand why this is the case, but now that I’m only reversing the stitch pattern versus the stitches (e.g. k2tog k5 yo k3 ssk), things look better. I am not fixing the standing up stitches as they are in the first repeat of the pattern adjacent to the toe so no one but me will see it. This has also helped very slightly with the looseness, but it’s still bigger than I would expect. I really can’t knit it any tighter though, unless I move to a smaller needle and I don’t have it! Progress is actually further than the picture below, but trying it on again last night, I think I’m going to have to start over and use smaller needles, as it is just way too baggy despite knitting tighter than pattern gauge. However, before I do that I may get distracted knitting some other socks with my yummy new purchase!

I need to remember that I am knitting two socks at once. I mean, it’s not like I am actually forgetting that I am, but you know, progress is much slower than it seems it should be when I think about how long I’ve already been knitting these. I’ve only just finished one repeat of the lace pattern. Lots more to go just on the foot let alone the cuff! But when I am done, I shall have two socks mwahahaha

Oddly, I think I am actually knitting tighter than the pattern gauge, yet the sock is rather loose. Not quite sure what to do about this. I can’t really decrease any stitches as the pattern repeat is a repeat of 12 stitches three times. Even if I decreased a few stitches on the foot, I’d still be at a loss when it came to doing the cuff because obviously the pattern goes around the entire leg and not just across the front.

Funnily enough, last night when I was working on the toe and tried it on when it was 56 or 60 stitches, it seemed really small and like I was going to have to fudge it somehow, maybe add a few stitches either side along the instep. However, once I got to the requisite 72 stitches, it seemed to fit perfectly, so I don’t know what’s up with it getting w i d e r. Perhaps it’s the decreases along the sides as the instep has a decrease either side of the repeat. I’ll try to tighten these up a bit since they are also against the foot and might be looser than they should be. Doing two socks at a time with a chart actually makes it very easy to do a mirror-image so I’m quite pleased that that’s working out.

I gave the Amelia cap two more tries. It just wasn’t working for me. It was causing me so much frustration that I’ve decided to hold off on knitting that pattern - and I may never knit it.

Instead I’m doing this…

Two socks at once! I’m going to knit the Falling Leaves socks from the Fall 2005 Knitty. However, I am using the Turkish cast-on with the help of the fantastic tutorial by misocrafty. I went ahead and purchased the recommended pattern (actually a set of patterns) which says to use the Turkish cast-on. I like the pattern, Badcaul by Anna Bell, but I’ve decided not to knit it right now. It was helpful to see how to increase the toe once cast-on since the Falling Leaves toe is constructed differently.

The picture above is actually the second cast-on. I cast-on and really had no problems, but my increases were messy. With the help of knittinghelp.com, I decided on a better method of increasing and they’re far neater now (the other ones were holey). We’ll see if I even get the two done tonight. I’m slightly distracted watching DVDs of the first series of Alias which I never saw. Even though I know what happens since I watched it from series two and into four, it’s still good!

Oh and the wool is from Natural Dye Studios. I’ll have to look up the colour as it didn’t come with a band. I ripped out the sock I knit with it (from last November / December) - that was my first knitted sock, but it just held some bad blood for me.