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.

Notes on Threes

There is truth in The third times the charm. Took me three patterns before I found one that worked well with this yarn. I've found several gorgeous ones for solid colours and they are on my list for the solid colours I've got. And of course there is the green kettle dyed yarn I've got which needs the perfect pattern. But this one, had me scratching my head. The stripes in the yarn made it tricky for a texture pattern and cable patterns do not work well with any sort of multicolour yarn. I found Sunset Scales on Ravelry that spoke to me and spoke with this yarn very well.  Easy to memorize - another increase and decrease pattern that is very easy to do that looks stunning and way more complicated than it actually is.

This is a Toe Up pattern.  I tried three (2nd set of three) different  ways to do start the pattern and finally settled on (and fell in love with), Judy's Magic Cast On shown in video - I use the Thumb Long Tail Cast On so this method is in my wheelhouse!  This is by far the easiest way to cast on for a Toe Up sock!  I love the challenging patterns cause it means that I learn something new / different each time!

My next set of three (hopefully the last three) attempts is my short turn heel row.  Yes, it actually took me three attempts to get it to the point where I am somewhat satisfied with the result.  I know I can do a better job on the heel; it's just going to take a bit more practice.  The reason I let it be is that the 'holes' fall in line with the lacey holes in the pattern.  Part of my issue with the heel this time is that the multicolour yarn made it difficult to see the bumps that are created when the yarn is wrapped.  I finally fell back on using stitch markers to keep track of where I last wrapped and turned.  That solved the issue, but doesn't look all that great - just going to take a bit of practice.  And less abused yarn LOL  The things I do yarn while I knit and screw up patterns haha

One thing that I'm surprised and very pleased about is these actually fit nicely with only 58 sts cast on!  I'm using size US2 bamboo needles - even with my wide foot, you can see that this fits me just right.  I'm not a huge fan of super tight socks at all - Just a wee bit snug.  The toe looks a bit wonky, I have read there's a way to get it right or left slanting.  That will be a step in the future for perfecting a toe up sock pattern

I like these!  I'm pleased with the progress and what I've learned :)  Yea Me!!

Ravelry Link - Sunset Toes Up