Knits

So for some reason I desperately want to be able to knit two socks at once. So once again I cast on for two at once on magic loop. Actually I was going to try two circulars, but managed to grab the wrong needles in round two and ended up with magic loop. The one needle alone is long enough, but previously when I tried this method I found it way too fussy so I moved to DPNs. Let it be said that I stuck with it all the way through the heels before making the switch. That meant one sock at a time and that’s when I made the sock that I couldn’t get over my skinny ankles.

Maybe there’s something wrong with my method, but I find that when I go to push the stitches onto the top needle and pull the bottom one out, it actually takes some effort to get those last few stitches over the cable/needle join. I am using Addi Turbos so it’s not like there’s a massive, lumpy join like there is on some circulars. I’m guessing this tightness occurs because those last two stitches are on the cable as I start working the top and get pulled snug against the cable since I pull rather tightly so not to have a ladder. I tried being very conscious of this and it still didn’t help. I gave up quickly this time and switched to my trusty DPNs. So I’m with the Yarn Harlot here - DPNs are quicker. Heh - it’s probably just practice, but who has the patience for that?! I want more knit socks now, damnit. Okay in like a fortnight… maybe.

 
My bargain table cloth. Hand embroidered linen (?) for £2 ($4). The pink detail above is on two corners and the periwinkle on the other two.
 

Nothing to show for it as I’m still increasing on the toe - maybe there will be a little progress later and I can edit this. Oh, I also decided against two at once because as I started knitting I realised that the balls are inside out to each other and while it probably wouldn’t bother (for years I was known to not wear matching socks — if they were matching it was completely by accident), it was sort of bothering me only because I didn’t think to look to see if they were wound the same.

Last night’s knitting was mostly a bust as I was doing the raglan increases on my Cathode, but totally messed up because I was doing the same increase I was using on my socks so all the increases were off. Argh. I knew I’d always see the jump in stitches so I ripped those out except that got in a muddle so I think I’ll rip all the way back to where I joined in the round and start again. I did finish up a dishcloth I had started the week before as a “here’s how you knit” project with two girls who I’ve re-taught to knit. I just wanted it done so I could put away the left over bits and the needles.

And and someone else knit some Flutter-bys for Sockapalooza 4! Seriously it is so flattering that someone would knit up a pattern that I wrote and I feel totally humbled by it. I will happily host a Flutter-by gallery for those who do knit them and want to submit a photo.

 
Some very minor stash enhancement. Hey, I couldn’t order just needles (and they ended up being the wrong one’s anyway - argh). Regia 6ply Crazy Color in Jungle. It is hideous looking in the ball but looks nice knitted up. Gloves or mittens methinks.

What a good weekend to top off the week of feeling pretty crappy from a cold and exhaustion. My friend came to visit and we went and saw Travis. That makes it three times in as many months that I’ve seen them. I can’t help it! They’re just so freakin’ cute.

I gave her a tour of Oxford. The weather all weekend was hit and miss — rain one minute, bright sunny skies the next.

The Radcliffe Camera and various colleges

We visited a little village to the north of Oxford called Woodstock — it rained pretty much the whole time, but it’s small. I wanted to go to the yarn shop that is listed in the yellow pages… only I couldn’t find it. Turns out it’s been closed for two- to three years! Argh. Oh well. I don’t need more yarn, but I wanted to go in since yarn shops are a novelty for me since they are lacking in Oxford.

The Boy made us dinner Saturday night and today we headed back into London so she could get back on the train to Brussels. We only had a few hours so we just went to Westminster Abbey / Big Ben / Houses of Parliament / London Eye since they are all right there next to Waterloo station. We also met up with a girl we know from the blogging world so that was nice.

I’m off to bed now, but stay tuned for some shots of my new (maybe clever) knitting accessory for socks! Plus a totally cute, girly handmade handbag I bought from a craft fair we stumbled upon!

PS Thank you all for all the nice comments and download of the pattern! If you downloaded it the first day or two it was up, you may want to re-download it as I discovered an error in the chart that must have occurred when I converted it to a PDF (I had to use a different converter to normal) plus a minor error I missed in all the reviewing. It’s all fixed now and as far as I can tell, error free. If you do find an error, please let me know! [And I'll remember to add a last updated date to the PDFs in the future.] Links to the pattern below for your convenience while I continue to revamp this blog (soon they’ll be in the sidebar).

Download the full pattern or the chart-only if you’re more experienced.

These are done. I’ve even written up the pattern in two formats. Further details can be seen in the finished object post or in the full pattern (see below).

They only need a wash before they’re sent off to my Sockapalooza pal on 2nd August. I think I can manage.

Download the full pattern or the chart-only if you’re more experienced.

This is the first pattern I’ve ever written up. If you come across any errors or are confused by anything, please let me know!

For other insect-related socks, watch out for Domesticat’s Drunken bee socks which have a very pretty heel.

Edited to add
First, thanks for all the positive comments on the socks. It’s really appreciated!

Second, I’ve just had a look at the PDFs again and noticed two errors - one in the caption for the images for making the flutter-by (and the number of times I proofed these! Argh!) and one in the chart. Something happened with the chart when it was converted to PDF. I have now updated the PDFs so that they are correct. Apologies for the inconvenience.

And if you do decide to knit these socks, please let me know and send along a picture as I will start a gallery for them!

I have always been lousy at estimating anything. I always am at the extremes, never close. I’ve always blamed this on some lack of depth perception and other mental disconnect. Maybe it’s one of those things that because I know there are tools available to measure whatever it is I want to measure, it’s never seemed important to me to be able to eyeball things or “guesstimate”. I know it actually is handy to do so, but I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. Which brings us to my progress on knitting…

I had expected that not only would I finish the second sock for my Sockapalooza Pal, but that I would cast on for the second Saucy sock and get well into it before Sunday became Monday. Neither of these things has happened yet. I suspect this evening I will get very close to finishing the second Sockapalooza sock if not outright finishing it (sans weaving in ends). I thought I would’ve finished these things because I was meant to be on trains for about 6 hours last Thursday and Friday as well as away from my computer. However, since I was ill, I didn’t get as far as I thought.

Yesterday I spent about three hours on trains and didn’t knit a single stitch. I could’ve easily have been near completion of the Sockpalooza sock if I had done anything, but I had unexpected company one direction and was way too tired the other. Next week I will spend a ridiculous amount of time on trains plus two nights in B&B/hotel accommodation and without a computer for nearly 3-days so I need to be sure to bring a couple of things to keep me occupied. There definitely won’t be much knitting around these parts after tomorrow night since I’ve got a friend coming into town.

I’m still incredibly exhausted due to the cold and work-related stress (that has now passed, but I’m still suffering the ramifications). I’m just not sleeping well and have to fight the urge to put my head down and go to sleep at all hours of the day in the hopes that when it comes time to actually go to bed, I can.

So right now it’s back to mindless Scrubs DVDs because they keep me entertained and I don’t have to pay attention since I’ve already seen them several times. It makes for great knitting time.

Oh, but quickly, Firefly has been trying to organise a From sea to shining sea blog ring as a memorial to her brother who passed away a few years ago. She is looking for people from every state to write about what they love about their state, maybe some of the hidden treasures, so she can have a blog ring available on the 4th of July so visitors can travel from sea to shining sea. She has 19 of the 50 states covered so if you’re interested, have a look to see if she needs someone from your state - of course she’s also happy to have more than one person from each state. And you don’t have to be a knitter/crafter/whatever to participate - you just need to have a blog or journal of some sort.

Yes, I am alive. After the tummy troubles of last week I came down with a cold on Wednesday night and felt miserable all of Thursday and into Friday morning. I’m feeling better now, but wasn’t really able to do any knitting from Wednesday night until late-Thursday night (I did all of two rounds woohoo) due to my head feeling like it was actually a boulder.

Also, I think the previous week I managed to sprain my thumb… I don’t know if this was knitting-related or cycling-related. It’s better now.

I am into the gusset decreases on the second sock for my Sockapalooza pal. Hopefully I’ll get that sock pretty much done today and I can cast on for my second Saucy sock.

I am working on Ms Marigold - I did the back and forth bits of the two front bits and have started on the back so once that’s done then all the pieces will be rejoined for a bit more back and forth before commencing the knitting in the round thing. It was moving along swiftly until the cold hit. I decided to cast on for the second Sockapalooza sock because I want to be done with them ASAP so if I have to fix them in anyway, I have time, an because it’s far more portable for my knitting sessions at work.

I did order (and receive) the extra ball of yarn for Ms Marigold and Bad Penny. I realised that I will have to rip out Bad Penny and start again because I think the same problem I had with Ms Marigold holds true for Bad Penny - I’ve tried to knit too dense a fabric instead of one that has some movement to it. I’m not really sad about this because now that I’ve learned my lesson about worn garments (versus hats/scarves) - sort of including socks (see: Falling Leaves) - I hope that I’ll be able to do the work needed quickly so that I can wear it before summer is out.

I also ordered some yarn to make a felted box or two from Mason-Dixon Knitting. And some Sox Stix from Lantern Moon in Ebony. So far so good. Definitely feel tougher than the birch ones although, as with most needles, I think they could do with a slightly sharper point. I feel that if needles are being made in the 2-3mm range, the work being done with them obviously involves finer yarns, and therefore smaller stitches, so why not make a tool that picks these things up better?

I know this post is lacking links and pictures, but I must dash for a train so I can see The Boy and infect him with all my germy goodness. Hopefully I’ll be well enough that this evening we can head into London to at least catch the headlining act for an [not quite] all day gig. Ballboy is supposed to hit the stage at 2130 and I’ve got a couple friends also attending so it would be good to be able to go and see all of that, yo. So I will try to get back here to put in links where I wanted to and maybe add a couple photos to at least make this post look pretty.

There are two food items that I love (obviously chocolate is at the top of the list, but AFTER chocolate) — asparagus and risotto — so hurrah for me for finally getting around to making some asparagus risotto tonight. I just stuffed a lot of it into my belly. And some wine. The risotto was this close — > < -- to actually having too much wine it. I know, how is too much wine even a possibly?

Dear self,

Why do you not make risotto more often? It’s dead easy and really doesn’t take much time. You are dumb. More risotto.

Love,

Your stomach

PS Please loosen your belt / trousers as they are a bit tight what with all the risotto you just ate. Ta.

Anyway, tomorrow morning I’m off to Northern Ireland and the Republic of until Sunday. I get to relax. The Boy has a talk on Tuesday night and a conference presentation on Thursday and I have nothing to do, but relax. And knit. Woohoo! I know I had a vacation from work a few weeks back when my mom and sister came for a visit, but playing amazing daughter/sister and host wasn’t really a break, you know? So I’m looking forward to this week very much.

Yesterday I hung out in London with a fellow ex-pat and taught her how to knit socks, sort of. She got the ribbing done and started on the leg. We’ll be meeting up again to drink fancy cocktails and that might not actually be the best time to get into turning a heel…

As for my Sockapalooza pal sock, well look –

Sorry for the blur - the batteries in my camera were low and it refused to really focus. Fussy technology.

I’m an odd number sort of person so I had to have an odd number butterfly rounds on the sock. I ran out of yarn with just that much to go. Luckily when I bought the yarn I had bought A LOT of it as I had planned on a baby blanket or something. I’ve changed my tune and am making a dress so I can afford to have to eat into just a touch of another skein. I just need to kitchener stitch the toe and weave in the ends and sock numero uno is finito. I’ll take yarn to start on sock two, but I might actually start on a sock for myself! *gasp* I’m looking to make Saucy from Cider Moon in some yarn I got from Piece of Beauty whose shop has reopened and she has some lace weights and solid colours now. Luckily none of her current sock yarns are calling to me and I really don’t want lace weight yarn. The yarn for the Sockapalooza pal is also from Piece of Beauty in a colourway called Desert Bloom.

I suppose I should go pack, eh? I’m a notorious last minute packer. When I went to live in New Zealand for a year I ended up taking damp clothes because I was still doing laundry the morning I was leaving hahaha. I don’t actually understand packing a week ahead unless of course you are entirely packing up your life and moving abroad the a few days should suffice. Have a good week!

Well it’s not quite finished, but I’ve tried it on twice now and it fits! I don’t have to break my ankle in order to maybe get it on my foot properly. Huzzah! And it is nice and snug, but not constricting unlike the pair of I-don’t-remember-where-or-why-I-got-these-but-they-are-good-gloves-that-I-don’t-really-need gloves that my mother left here for me that I decided to use since SUMMER HAS APPARENTLY BEEN AND GONE BACK IN APRIL and it’s been damn cold cycling to work in the morning. I put them on and tried to manipulate my keys (as in simply hold them) and found that I was obviously losing blood flow to my hands. She has left me gloves made for people with little, tiny hands which isn’t surprising since she has little tiny hands (and feet). It’s too bad she’s always too hot otherwise knitting her socks would be easy since it’d be like knitting babies booties haha. (As far as I know, mom doesn’t know this blog exists.) I had to fish out my gloves that I’d put away along with the other “winter” gear. I guess Spring / Summer is the new Winter just like Brown is the new Black, eh? So yeah, these should definitely fit my sock pal whose foot is a bit smaller than mine.

ANYWAY - I had hoped to finish the sock tonight, but I took another nap. Yes. I did. I took a nap. Now if only when I awoke from said after-work nap the cats will have been good and prepared dinner or at least graham crackers and milk, then I’d be set, but no. I’ll be working on it a bit more tonight so hopefully tomorrow it will be done and I can start on the next one or another pair of socks. I don’t know. I need knitting for Sunday when I spend the day in London knitting at various locales w/ a fellow ex-pat and teaching her to knit socks (HAHAHA hilarity seeing how well all of my knitting projects work out). Also, I need LOTS of knitting for next week as I go off to Ireland with The Boy. He will be speaking at a couple of different geek meetings / conferences so I’ll have some free time.

But also, here’s some pictures of my yarn from the Yarn Chef. She specially dyed the orange for me to match the green. I am very much considering the Chevron Scarf, but don’t those colours look very nice in a pair of black Mary Janes? Not only did she send me two giant skeins (~460 yard each!) of nice yarn (even The Boy stood there and fondled it and said how nice and squishy it was!!), but she sent me two fancy stitch markers and a recipe.

The green is called Are the 70s really gone? (he!) and the orange is Pumpkin mix

Right, I am obviously sleep deprived or very excited that

1. Tomorrow is Friday which is always good (I actually like Friday’s at work)
2. My sock is working and I’m sort of making it up as I go
3. Saturday I’m doing something very girly
4. Sunday I am having a girl’s day out
5. Monday is the only day I have to work next week and then it’s off to Ireland
6. Seeing Travis (yes, again) at the end of June w/ three friends

because I have managed to turn down FREE YARN (although it is going to my friend I taught to knit so I think that allows me to look through it, right?). A woman at work just moved and had stored some stuff at her mum’s including some quantity of yarn which she offered up and I laughed and said “NO WAY I have way too much already”. I mean, obviously I need this vacation.

This picture has nothing to do with anything, but I’d been meaning to take a picture of these brilliant red poppies that come up every year here. I’m from California so I’m used to seeing the hills covered in orange and gold coloured poppies this time of year, but these red ones are just amazing. Alas, with all the heavy rain and wind we’ve had the last week I think they are meeting their end a bit sooner than usual. Boy did I get stared at when taking this picture - bicycle tossed on the ground, wearing all my kit, clambering up an industrial site haha.

I know it really does seem like I’ve fallen off the planet what with the lack of updates and responses to comments, etc., but I’m still here. Last week I was absolutely knackered every evening. I’ve always been a napper, but I’ve recently been in a period where I only tend to take a nap at the weekend rather than when I get home from work so I was a bit surprised to find myself taking one EVERY EVENING last week. I had to force myself back up to eat dinner and stare into space rather than sleep until midnight and then wake up and not be able to get back to sleep. Do you remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer suggested sleeping for 4 hours and being awake for 6 or something along those lines because he was more efficient? Well, that’s how I am - I need 4-5 hours of sleep and I’m good for about 8 hours.

All of that was way more detail than you needed. I’m obviously still tired hence the rambling more than usual.

With all the sleeping last week, I did very little knitting. In truth part of it is because I am bored as everything I’ve been knitting is in the round with no pattern to it - just an increase or decrease here and there. If I were a faster knitter, I could’ve finished these things. So instead I kept browsing through my Stitchionary: knit and purl v.1 for a pattern for my Sockapalooza 4 pal socks. I cast on and started knitting a sock more with the intention of swatching and trying out a variety of patterns. Since I’ve chosen a very variegated yarn, a slip-stitch pattern would work best. I tried three patterns before deciding on one. I meant to take a picture, but when I was nearly done ripping it out, I realised I forgot to take the picture! DAMN. I’ve decided on the Butterfly pattern - the slip stitch version as I know there is a lace version too. It goes pretty quickly so hopefully I’ll be able to finish them up soonish.

Quick comment on the Stitchionary… it’s a nice book that’s divided into sections of pattern type - e.g. Knit & Purl, Slip stitch, Lace. My problem with this book is that there is no list of the patterns contained in it and there’s 270-something patterns so this is really quite frustrating. I was browsing another stitch pattern book and came across a couple of patterns I liked, but wasn’t sure if they were in the Stitchionary. So what I plan to do, and this is definitely the librarian in me coming out, is create a list of all the patterns in the book so I can reference it. I’ll make it available on this site for others, too.

I’ve finally finished uploading all my pictures from my family visit - a few highlights below.

Rosslyn chapel (yes the one mentioned in The Da Vinci Code — Obligatory shot of Stonehenge — An elephant’s rib cage at the Natural History Museum of Oxford University¹

I also did get some new yarn from the Yarn Chef on Etsy. It’s so scrummy! I haven’t had time to take photos of it or all the yarn my mom and sister brought over for me. The weekend was way too busy and too dark and wet. Maybe it will be bright enough when I get home tonight seeing it’s still light at 930pm these days!

A couple more pictures and I’ll let you get back to your normal lives…

My sister’s (semi-)Kittyville hat and a flower she stuck in it — My favouritest band, Travis who I saw Sunday night in Reading. Oh they are so cute and put on such a great show!

The full set of photos from the family visit are available in a set on Flickr.

Oh and I am almost caught up w/ all my blog reading! I was almost there and then a bunch of new posts hit Newsgator. I will also be catching up on any comments left here!

¹ I will likely make a whole post about this museum as it is my favouritest building ever.