Creeping Towards Two

Despite any intentions I subconsciously had to the contrary - this sock turned out pretty good!  A good snug fit around the instep of my foot - and they fit from toe to heel nicely.  Not to tight and not to loose fit all round.  I do wish it was a bit snugger above the ankle and around the lower part of the leg.  I've noticed that on the socks I've made.  Granted I normally wear ankle socks so mid calf are rather new to me LOL

I was rather expecting some major incident that would mean I would have to frog the entire sock, or tink back sections as I've had to on previous attempts - but no, this went off rather without a hitch. I hope I just didn't curse the next sock by saying that.  Each sock is a learning process and the curve has been pretty steep initally - it's way more manageable now LOL

I did find a great bind off at Slip Slip Knit - worked quite well! Not tight at all - easily able to get over my foot and heel with no issues.  It was a bit wibbly though - that could be because I didn't drop down to a smaller needle when I was doing the ribbing or casting off - another great lesson learned.  I'll be sure to try it on the next toe up pair I do.

I've been eyeballing Bavarian Style of knitting for the next socks I make.  They are absolutely gorgeous and I'm definitely itching to start them.  BUT  not until I finish this last socks :)

Bamboo N Lace

A great way to spend Sunday is with coffee and my knitting until my football teams play. Yes, it's teams - I've been a Raiders fan since 1984 when a friend took pity on me and explained the nuances of the game. The Raiders just happened to be playing and I picked them as my team to cheer on. And I fell in love with the Saints watching their homecoming ceremony after Katrina - so I'm lucky this week in that they don't play at the same time :) Yea Me!!  So in the meantime I knit while I wait

Not sure if you remember me mentioning that one of the rows was going sideways on me.  I finally counted the stitches in the row in the pattern and it was short.  Lucky for me, someone mentioned in their project notes on Ravelry what the error was and a correction!  YEA!!!  So now, no more sideways rows

The metal needles are still slippery as hell for me and I'm getting a grip on it so to speak and my stitches look better now  Even so, I ordered some bamboo needles from Knitpicks and I should have them next week!  I will now have bamboo needles for sizes 0 - 4 and they are 5" long instead of 7" which is a tad long for knitting socks - those super long needles make it tricky in the cast on section of the pattern.

On the social media front, I finally caved and installed and signed up for Instagram.  I'm sure I'm going to regret this, but least I'll have fun LOL  My instagram is g_quilts and I'll post not only knit pics, but pics of my family, dogs and other hijinx I manage to get myself into LOL

Ravelry link - Toz Up Enya Cables N Lace

Sunset toes up - almost there

First there was one, then there is two!  I'm so glad I'm done with these, but I'm not happy with the bind off.  While I've got enough room, they're just a smidge to tight at the top even with using US3 for the bind off.  So as usual, I've done research and there's a ton of hits for stretchy bind off.  I'm tempted to undo the bind off and do the stretchy bind off so I'm 100% happy with them.  They fit well and sit well on my feet and legs.  There's just that bit of tightness.  I don't have this issue with casting on.

The second sock knit up with no issues with the heel as I resorted to using stitch markers to keep track of where I was at with my heel turn/wrap and while I didn't have to back up, I still have to practice more :)

The patterning in the yarn worked well with this pattern and I am happy with result and how it looks

Not sure why one side of the heel is loose and the other is spot on.  Could be the fact that one is on the purl side and the other on the knit.  I'm not really sure.  I do know that one stitch seemed to be 'longer' on the needle than the rest.  I tried to keep the pressure off the end stitches, but apparently I didn't keep enough pressure off the stitch.  I'll figure it out and of course practice makes perfect.

Now to find a nice patterned sock to use with a solid colour yarn.  I've the kettle dyed green yarn that I'm still working to find the perfect pattern.

Take Three ish ...

To bad this colour didn't grow on me like I was hoping it would.  But that's okay - I gave it an honest try - that's all I can ask for.  You know how sometimes a colour or combination just grows on you - that didn't happen here - even looking at this pic - it still isn't growing on me.  It didn't pick up the blues / purples like I was hoping it would.  I'm thinking it did the exact opposite and just 'blurred' the colours together.  Not to sure, but not for me

I know I really wanted a gray or brown for the heel - and that thought / wish must've been niggling in the back of my brain - also the idea of a short turn row heel speaks more to me as well.

I finally got a chance to check out the 'new' yarn store not to far from me - nice place :)  she features local yarns as well - hand dyed yarns .. I'll treat myself to them soon enough - I've some other socks to knit up first before I go ahead and purchase a hank of that.

So yet again,, this poor sock was frogged back to the beginning as tinking back all those rows was more patience than I had right then.  I've not knit in a day or two.  I'll be casting on this sock again tonight after I get done with supper - right now I'm off to make some home made pasta to have as a side with some spicy grilled chicken breasts that are for supper tonight.

So this time, the right colour and I'll do a short row heel for it as well .. the look of that heel is speaking to me :)

And of course we can't forget this is 9/11 - Never forget - Always remember

Back I Go

A huge thanks to Fiber Babble!  In response to her comment on my last post I answered my own quandry - If I continued and finished off with different yarn for the toe - not a big deal, but what happens in if the yarn doesn't end in roughly the same place on the 2^nd sock?  My OCD beastie wouldn't just twitch, it would convulse like mad!  So back I go to the heel shaping and use a different yarn.

I ran into a small problem when I pulled out the yarn I picked up to finish these socks - they are light fingering weight, while the yarn I've been using is fingering .. ah crap!  The wraps per inch are way short and it could be solved by doubling the yarn, but I can see severe issues when decreasing and trying to pick out the stitches I need - I would go mental and rip out my hair.  It's really to bad as this yarn would be perfect to finish off the socks or even as a contrast yarn for the heels and toes.  DRAT!  Next time check out yarn weight before buying it.  Although I can do other socks with this yarn - so a win there!

I dug into my oddball stash of single skeins and leftovers and found a few that are close in weight, but the colour wasn't the best match.  I picked the best one that is going to be a decent match - it will pull the purple and blue colours out of the yarn.  Should be an interesting mix me thinks.  It will prolly look as good as the pink could - I just had a different look in mind, but that's okay - My original choice was gray or brown.  So I'll be spending most of the day tinking back - the temptation to frog it all and start all over is almost overwhelming as it'll take the same amount of time to get back to the heel shaping, but naw .. don't want to put more frog stress on the beginning of the skein as there's already been enough with all the frogging from the previous sock pattern attempt.

I really am okay with this and not frustrated at all.  I know it's going to be worth it for the final product :)  I'm tempted to try the short row heel method as I do prefer the look of it - I'll decide when I get to that point

Update:  I opted to frog back to the beginning - tinking back all that way was just more than my patience could handle today LOL - I started at the other end of the skein where the yarn hadn't been abused yet.

So close ..

Just as I feared - I'm short. I'm roughly 1 ¹/₂" short.  I have to decide if that's close enough to the toe that it won't make my OCD twitch.  I'm thinking it's going to twitch like mad regardless LOL

On a good note, my yarn ends on a the dark colour which blends to the pink colour - which is rather lucky as I picked up a pink for the filler.

I tried on the sock and it's not as bad as I feared - I think I'll just go all the way to the end and then use the pink to finish with.  I'm supposed to end on row 9, 10, 19, or 20 - and I'm on row 7 now - so this just might work out me thinks .. me hopes LOL

It's either that or tink back to the heel and do that in pink and the toe in pink - not sure I want to tink back 30 rows for the instep / foot and then all the heel shaping to change to pink for the hell shaping - redo the foot / instep, then change to pink for the toe.  It might take just as long to frog the whole sock and start again as it would be to tink back all the way ..

I am of the mind to just keep going to see how it's going to look - if I don't like the way it makes my OCD twitch then I can tink it back to heel shaping.

At least this time, I'm not having issues with the pattern directions LOL

Ravelry Link - Midnight Oil Socks

Scratching my head ...

There are times, I am beyond amazed at my own ability to be a twit! I've been knitting along happy as a clam with the Candlepower pattern - my only concern was if I would have enough yarn - I still don't know .. it's going to be very close.  I guess I was so stressed about the amount of yarn left that I wasn't really paying attention to the stitches closely.

This pattern has S2KP and SSK - The part I'm working on right now has several rows that start with SSK and Kx - Instead of doing SSK, I was doing S2KP,  But on thinking about this - they are both double decreases - just slant in different directions - so I still have no idea where I went wrong.

Soooooo - tinking back roughly 5 rounds as that's where I know where I was on track.  Chances are I'm going to end up frogging this whole thing if I'm short on the yarn, but that's not the point - I want to do it right - just in case I've got enough and only have to do the toes a different colour - Anything is possible.

I am having fun with this project and can't wait to get then done and get to wear them.  Not that I'm wishing for cold weather . oh HELLZ NO!  Just want to wear them LOL

9.1.2016 - Update

I tinked back to the last round of the YO before the SSK began (8 rounds) and it's all worked out now - all stitches are where they're supposed to be - yea me!!

Yoga Sock Asana

Yogi happy dance!!  I'm happy that I decided to frog the first sock and start again.

This looks so much better than the first time I was 'finished'.  They fit great and this yarn feel great against my skin.  Nice loose fit so won't feel like I'm constricted while doing a pose - we'll see how it feels after I've worn them for a bit - they can be machine washed but not put in the dryer as it's 75% wool like my poor hooded cowl that is now felted .. (grumbles)



They are a smidge long, but not so much that it'll affect poses while I practice.   When I do my pair in Cyan, I'll make them a bit shorter in the foot. I've a size 7-8 WIDE foot for a point of comparison if you plan to make these

I definitely learned a lot while (and re-learned) these socks.  I like doing projects that challenge me where I can master a new technique and go out on a limb to try (and in some cases) try again and again and again LOL

Now to cast on the stitches for my friend's socks :)