Laceweight Socks?

Just so you don’t think this is turning into a spinning blog, I do have an old FO to show you. It was started and completed within two days in the month of April. Behind a bit with my blog posting? Me?

I made it through three rounds of Sock Madness 2, and these are the last pair of socks I knit. By the way, I did make it through this round, I just chose not to continue with Round 4 since I was on vacation. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Pattern: Slippin’ Stripin’ Socks by Tina Lorin (Ravelry)
Yarn: Knit Picks Shadow: (1) skein Juniper, (1) skein Vineyard
Needles: Knit Picks Circular size 2.75 mm / US 2

Raveled Here

The yarn is laceweight. Yes, laceweight. There’s no cast on of 130 sts and size 00 needles because you are knitting with 2 strands of yarn held together, which in essence makes it fingering weight. The brilliance of the pattern is that you’re constantly changing the colorway of the 2nd strand of yarn. Not only does this give you great color variations, but will also hold your interest and attention. At least, it did mine.

For example, the ribbing is knit with 2 strands of colorway A, but for the next few rounds, you knit with one strand of colorway A and one strand of colorway B. After a few rounds of that, you drop the one strand of colorway A and add a second strand of colorway B. It goes on like this throughout the pattern and you have to pay attention to get the color sequences just right.

To make things easier on yourself, I recommend splitting your yarn skeins in half, although you can use the inside and outside strands of your skein to eliminate that extra step. Since I was knitting both socks at the same time (because I’m crazy like that), I had to split each of my skeins into these cute little yarn cakes. If you keep each socks yarn in its own plastic bag, it makes everything semi-manageable.

The designer was kind enough to release the pattern as a free Ravelry download, so I’m going to highly recommend you check it out. In fact, I may be knitting this again in the future and experiment a little with adding a 3rd or fourth color. I may even do it with handspun.

And before I forget, I’d recommend weaving your ends in as you go. I’d say trust me on this, but I think this photo speaks louder than words.

Even though I participated in Sock Madness for only 3 rounds, I must thank Carole and Hillary for putting together such a great competitive knit-along. Sock Madness 3 is scheduled to happen next year, so are any of you up to the challenge?

Read Full Post »

Madness, Movies, and Motrin

I’d missed out on Sock Madness last year so when rumors of Sock Madness 2 started circulating, I signed up immediately. I thought that my sock knitting skills had vastly improved over the last year and that I knit socks fairly quickly and felt pretty comfortable with any difficulty level. One thing I’d recommend though to anyone who decides to take on something like Sock Madness is to arm yourself with lots of movies for entertainment and motrin for the inevitable pain.

Pattern: Zombie Socks by Sheryl Giles designed for Sock Madness 2
Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock lightweight in Obsidian
Needles: 2.0 mm / US 1 Knit Picks Circular Nickel (2) 24″
Ravelry Links: GuiltyPleasures and Sock Madness
Started: 3/13 11:00 am; Finished: 3/15 8:30 am

Thursday morning at 10am as I sipped my morning coffee, I did as I do most mornings at that time and checked my email. There it was. The sock madness email I had been anticipating. As I sprung from the sofa and into my office / craft room, I started up my office PC and printed out the sock pattern while searching for my swift and yarn. Normally there would be no searching, but the craft room is in the midst of a remodel and so things aren’t in their usual places. Hubby came into the room to see what all the bustle was about, and in my best panicky voice I said: “I can’t find my swift, I can’t find my swift.” As he holds his coffee in one hand, he reaches over to the top of my double wooden filing cabinet and calmly says: “It’s right here”. I gratefully smile at him as I grab the pattern from the printer, my needlecase, the yarn from its container, and rush to the dining room table to turn my yarn hank into a ball.

I quickly read through the pattern. Zombie Socks. Sounds interesting enough. I cast-on and after the necessity of the ribbing was completed, I excitedly began knitting the stitch pattern. I was definitely thankful that there were no jobs, or children to get in the way of my knitting time, and although I miss hubby while he’s at work, when he walked out the door at 2 pm I was anxious to knit all evening until he returned home at 1 am. I had the stitch pattern memorized immediately and since there are dropped stitches, I wondered why the instructions didn’t have me knit through the back loop (ktbl) of the stitches before and after the dropped stitch to reinforce them. Then I finally realized that since Zombies are a bit on the disheveled side (although I’ve not personally met one), and by not reinforcing the stitch, it makes it look less “neat”. Besides, I’ve already knit the “neat” version of this pattern before. It’s the Tangled Up In Blue pattern by Judy Becker. You know the one .. Judy of Judy’s Magic Cast On. There were a few minor differences, in Judy’s pattern but overall I kind of felt like I was knitting the same sock pattern twice.

During that day I was able to complete the leg of both socks, and at bedtime I was grateful that I had a bottle of muscle relaxants in my medicine cabinet. The next morning as I worked on the heel flaps, my body told me that it needed a day off to rest. As I opened the bottle of Motrin I told my body to be quiet since there was no time for rest and things would be fine. As I continued to knit, I noticed my knitting was quite labored and slow. I also noticed that the pain had not been helped by the Motrin and when I finished the heel flap on the second sock, I noticed that things weren’t lining up. Riiiiiiippppp. I recounted, I repositioned stitches, and started again. I then realized my problem was that I was trying to watch new tv programming, and new-to-me movies, so my concentration wasn’t focused enough on the socks.

I glanced over at the 100+ DVD’s in their dilapidated shelving unit and figured that this is the ideal time to re-watch movies I know and love so that I can more fully concentrate on the project at hand. I knit and knit and knit and when hubby arrived home at 1 am, he found me in the same position as when he had left that same afternoon. He could tell I was in pain since non-stop knitting and fibromyalgia are not a great combination, and he highly recommended I go to bed. I assured him I wouldn’t be up much longer, and whether he believed me or not, he must have been too tired to argue with me and put himself to bed. I doubt he was surprised much when he woke up at 7 am and found a completely exhausted wife sitting on the sofa with socks in hand working on the toes.

By 8:30am hubby was off to work and I had finished knitting, photographing, and uploading my sock photos to Flickr. I sent off my email to notify the Sock Madness maidens that I had completed my socks, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I gathered up my finished socks, the bottle of Motrin and the strewn about movies, put them in a pile on the table and went to bed.

One final note, it’s now 4 days later and in my division only 23 people have completed their socks. Since the top 40 people continue on to the second round, I was obviously a little over-zealous with pulling an all-nighter to complete my socks. Damnit.

Read Full Post »

Holiday Charity Knits?

Do you charity knit for the holidays?

Last year I participated in Knit Unto Others, which is hosted yearly by Carole & Margene. The concept is to charity knit during the last two weeks of November. At the end of the month, you send them an email stating what you knit & where you donated it to, and your name is entered into a drawing to win a prize from either Carole or Margene. Last year, I did win a prize from Margene, but honestly, just knowing that someones head was kept warm because of hats I knit, was gift enough.One of the charities I’ll be knitting for again this year is Christmas Knits to help One at a Time Ministries, and Lynda just reminded me on her blog post that it’s that time of year again. I’m sure there’s a hat pattern or two I’ve been wanting to try that would be perfect for this charity. How about you?
On the health front, my doctor asked me to try some medication for the FMS and after being on it for 2 weeks, my pain levels have dropped by about 40%. YEAH! I’ve had a “bad” day here & there, but my overall daily pain is much improved. I’ve had no side effects from the medication (that I’ve noticed) so that’s great, and DH has especially noticed a change in me since he can now give me a squeeze now & then without me screeching in pain.

The other good thing is that the NutriSystem diet is working. My body resisted for the first 10 days though, but now that it knows I’m sticking with it and not cheating, it finally gave up some pounds and as of today, day 15, I’ve lost 5.5 pounds. Some of the food is great and some of it is not so great, but I’m sorting through it so I can customize my next order. The best part is that I’m not ever hungry. That is definitely a first for me. I’ve never been on a diet where I haven’t been completely miserable, and honestly it barely feels like I’m on a diet right now.

In actual knitting project news, there is actually quite a bit going on.

Recently Completed:

• Cable Wave Scarf (my own design)
• Thuja anklets originally knit for DH are now Thuja anklets for me
• Exact same hat as I knit last year for my nephew, but now in a larger size
• Practice baby booties from Cat Bordhi’s latest book

In process:

• Fiber Trends Felted Clogs
• Glittens for sister are in the process of being reknitted in a larger size
• Candy Wrappers socks have been started, frogged and re-started
• Hat for charity
• Tangled Yoke (still needs to be blocked)

After seeing this list, I think it’s time to buckle down and get things blocked, felted, and photographed. Sheesh.

Jillian shared this on her blog and I’m passing along to all of you as well. There’s a Veterans Day yarn sale going on over at Sonny & Shear. Use the coupon code VETERAN to save 20% off of your yarn purchases now through November 17, 2007 and all orders over $40 have free shipping. There are a lot of wonderful things that are unfortunately sold out, but I did snag some Lorna’s Laces & Dream in Color. How could I not?

Read Full Post »

I’m Twisted

I know why this is called the Twisted Flower sock … you have to be a bit “twisted” to attempt it! After much anticipation (mainly by me), I’d like to present:

Twisted Flowering Eggplants
(click photo for bigger)

Pattern: Twisted Flower by Cookie A.
Source: Cookie A Knitwear Designs
Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in Eggplant
Needles: Knit Picks 24″ circular size 1.5 US (2.5mm)
Notes: The only modification I did to this pattern was to knit it on two circular needles. I didn’t attempt for a moment to convert this to toe-up, but I feel fairly confident that if I knit this again, I could convert it successfully.

WHEW! This pattern was by far the most time-consuming as far as sock patterns go, but look at the results! I’ve decided to be selfish and keep these for myself. I love the yarn, the color, the pattern and the fit. How often does *that* happen?

The pattern is worth every single penny and more, but ssshhhh, don’t tell Cookie. I’d hate to see her pattern prices jump up because of that comment. The yarn was less desirable though. Although I’ve previously loved knitting with it and only had minor problems with yarn slubs and knots, these skeins were horrible! I think I had 12 ends on each sock to weave in … ICK! I’m hoping it was just a fluke because I really do like the yarn (and there’s more in my stash).

If you decide to purchase this beautiful pattern, a couple of things I would suggest:

• Pointy-tipped needles — this makes cabling that much easier
• Chart reading experience — trust me on this one
• Solid color sock yarn — to show off the beauty of the pattern
• Experience in cabling without a cable needle — really, you’ll thank me later
• Full concentration while knitting — I wasn’t able to successful watch television without ripping back
• Complete trust in the pattern — everything about it is brilliant.

September Sock A Month 4 KAL socks are complete … what’s up next? I think maybe something plain and simple!

Read Full Post »

Swan Lake De-Mystified

Shall I say last, but not least, … or are there still a few of you knitting this?

(click for bigger)

Pattern: Swan Lake by Melanie Gibbons
KAL: Mystery Stole 3 (Yahoo Groups)
Source: Pink Lemon Twist (pattern to be released soon to anyone not in the KAL)
Yarn: Baruffa Cashwool; colorway 11 (black)
Needles: Addi Turbo Lace circular Size 3 (3.25 mm)
Finished Dimensions: 60″ x 17″

I love that I decided to jump in with both feet and join this KAL. I’ve never done anything like this before because frankly, I’m a control freak. I want to know what, when, where and how with what I’m knitting, so this was a complete change for me.

There are a few things I would do differently if I were to knit this again:

• Pay attention to the blocking instructions. For those of you who have knit and blocked this stole, you’ll notice in the photos that I obviously blocked this incorrectly. I forgot to make the points on the wing side. Please don’t remind me though, I’m hoping I forget about it so I don’t feel the need to re-block it.

• Use a different yarn. I like the yarn, but I don’t love it. I wish I would’ve chosen a wool/silk blend (like the yarn she recommended) because I think I would’ve liked the drape better.

• Use a size 4 (3.5mm) or 5 (3.75mm) knitting needle. Although I think the Addi Turbo Lace needles are amazingly perfect for lace knitting, the size 3 (3.25mm) needles I used didn’t create a fabric that was the overall size I wanted.

• Include the beads. Since I didn’t know what the beads would look like in the stole, and since I was afraid it may look tacky, I wimped out and didn’t include them. If I were to only change one thing about my stole, it would be to add the beads.

Overall, I’m quite happy with my Swan Lake Stole and I’m looking forward to wearing it on my cruise next month for our four year anniversary. I’ll try to get modeled shots of it then.

Also, look what came in the mail! It’s my Loopy Ewe order! (click for bigger)

From Left to Right:

• Panda Cotton in College Prep (freebie)
• Louet Gems Pearl in Burgandy
• All Things Heather Sock in Raspberry
• Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett in Mirage Storm
• ShiBuiKnits Sock in Midnight
• Addi Turbo Lace needles (to add to my growing collection)

This is the second time I’ve ordered All Things Heather and I’m still in love with it! The photo of the Kaffe Fassett yarn from Regia does not do it justice because this colorway is stunning! Also, if you get the chance to order ShiBuiKnits Sock, definitely do! It’s a smooshy, squishy delight, and the color is stunning. This was my 6th order, so I’m now a Loopy Groupie. This is a great thing since now I should be getting notified before she does her sneak-ups. Maybe now I can get my hands on that Wollmeise. I’m coveting the Granatapfel and Gewitterhimmel colorways.

Read Full Post »

Waving Lace at Dusk

I realize that I was absent from blogging for weeks on end, and then in the span of two days I posted my completed Thelonious socks and now the Waving Lace socks, but it’s only because I want to get another “credit” for SAM4.

Pattern: Waving Lace by Evelyn A. Clark
Source: Favorite Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Risata in Dusk
Needles: Knit Picks 24″ circular size 1.5 US (2.5 mm)

This is the first pattern I’ve knit from Favorite Socks, and I am more than pleased with the pattern. There’s two options for the cuff, either a basic rib, or the designers scalloped edge. I obviously chose the later and I’m very pleased with the result. The waving lace pattern is comprised of 8 stitches over 20 rows, but it’s very easy to memorize.

I ordered the Risata yarn the first week it was introduced by Knit Picks. I’m such a sucker for “new” yarn. The jury’s still out on whether I like it or not though. It’s not super squishy, or super soft, but I’m sure the nylon content will help these wear a lot better than my squishy soft socks too. I absolutely adore the color and this was a pleasant surprise because in my opinion, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Knit Picks colorways. After seeing their fall yarn lines though, I think they may have figured it out.

I lucked out and caught the Loopy Ewe sneak-up on Wednesday, so I was able to acquire a few new items for my stash, but you’ll have to wait until they arrive for the details. I also decided to hop on over to Amazon.com and pick up Cat’s latest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I blame this purchase solely on the influence of Judy‘s blog posts taunting me with the fabulous-ness of the book.

I’m halfway through the Twisted Flower socks and I must admit that if you cannot devote full concentration to this pattern, do not purchase it. I’ll go into more details why when I post the finished socks, but I will say this … I love them!

My mystery stole is completely finished and a blog post will come soon regarding that. Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions for what cardi to knit with my new Skye Tweed yarn. For now, I’ve purchased the ChicKnits Ariann pattern and will be swatching soon to see if it will work. I think my biggest problem is I didn’t purchase enough skeins to knit most of the patterns I wanted, but I have been eyeing Ariann for awhile now, so maybe it was meant to be.

Have any of you signed up for the Secret of the Stole KAL? I loved the Mystery Stole KAL, but am unsure of signing up for a secret stole KAL when I’ve not seen any previous stole designs from the designer. What do you think?

Read Full Post »

The-what-ius?

Does anyone have any idea why Cookie named this sock pattern Thelonious? Does it have something to do with Thelonious Monk?

Pattern: Thelonious by Cookie A.
Pattern Source: www.cookiea.com
Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in Sage
Needles: Knit Picks 24″ circular size 1.5 US (2.5 mm)

Thelonious is one of the patterns I purchased when I took the sock design class from Cookie in July and it’s one of the few patterns I didn’t convert from cuff down to toe up. I figured I’d knit a pattern as written (for once) mainly because she designed them cuff down and I wanted to knit it as she designed it.

I made a few errors and had to tink back here and there, but overall, things went smoothly. The yarn was wonderful to work with, and I’m glad I chose a solid colorway yarn so that it shows off all the details of Cookie’s design. I would definitely recommend this pattern to anyone who loves knitting socks, but be forewarned, you need to be able to knit from a chart.

These socks are being mailed to mom for her birthday, although I must admit, I’m almost a week late in sending them to her. I’m sure she’ll forgive me though since her gift to me was a few weeks late also.

I’ve already cast on for the next Cookie pattern, Twisted Flower, and it’s taking my full attention, although I’m starting to itch to make something other than socks.

In yarn collecting news (because I can’t not), I picked up 13 skeins of this Classic Elite Skye Tweed for a future cardigan for myself. I’m not sure what pattern to use, so I’m wondering … does anyone have any recommendations?

Read Full Post »

Knitting mojo (here!) …Blogging mojo (anyone, anyone?)

In the ever growing saga regarding my health, (skip this entire paragraph and save yourself the boredom), I saw a wonderful Endocrinologist last week and although I have all the symptoms and TSH levels that show hypothyroidism, she’s running additional tests on my T3 and T4 levels to confirm. She’s also running some other tests to rule out other diseases and such before committing to a fibromyalgia diagnosis. She thinks my last Dr was an idiot for not running additional tests to rule out positively everything else first. I definitely agree with her.

Mystery Stole 3 KAL is the most fun I’ve had in a LONG time and definitely helped me with my knitting mojo. I finished the first clue on Saturday and was semi-sad that I had knit it so quickly since that has left me with 5 days of no MS3 knitting. The only negative part to this KAL are all the yahoo digest messages that seem to be a complete waste of reading. As a matter of fact, it’s only July 5th and there are already 1,400 messages that have been written. Who has the time to read all of that? In my opinion a lot of the messages are from people attempting to knit lace for the very first time ever, and they’re clogging up the message system with whining about frogging for the 3rd & 4th time or asking for help since nothing makes sense, etc. Did these people not read the KAL description which states: “This year’s stole is not recommended for beginning lace knitters, but if you are comfortable with lace techniques and reading charts, you should be just fine.” I think not!

There will probably be no MS3 knitting on Sunday. I’ve signed up for two sock knitting / design classes taught by none other than Cookie A who designed sock patterns such as Pomatomus, Monkey, and Baudelaire, just to name a few. The classes are being taught at Unwind in Burbank, CA which is only about an hour from my home, so it’s fairly close and in addition to finally meeting Cookie, I’m excited to meet other knitters who are as passionate about socks as I am.

In yarn collecting news, my next post should have photos of some new yarn. DH & I refinanced our home and since I made sure we took out some extra cash, I decided that I’m going to celebrate my birthday month by increasing my stash. DH said he was fine with that, but that’s also because he knows I’m the penny pincher in the family and that I’d never purchase too much yarn. HA! We’ll see about that!

In addition to the MS3 shawl, I’ve GOT to post my completed photos of the Handsome Shawl from Victorian Lace Today, the adorable felted bag I gave my niece last month, and the Feather & Fan socks I completed weeks ago. I’m also currently knitting Shedir and a pair of ankle socks for DH, but I’m pretty sure those will be on the back burner Friday morning when the MS3 clue is available. My blogging mojo is still missing though, so for those of you with access to Ravelry, you’ll probably see photos of my completed items there first. By the way, my “name” on Ravelry is GuiltyPleasures. Sounds like a porn star name huh? Maybe I should change my blog name.. any recommendations?

Read Full Post »

Must find my mojo

Has anyone seen my blogging mojo? Somehow I’ve lost it and I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I used to absolutely love sitting at the computer multiple times a day for hours reading everyone’s knitting adventures, but for the last month (or so) … I’ve barely sat at the computer at all. I’m sure I even owe many of you an email (or two, or three or maybe even four) with a “thank you” for all the compliments on my last pair of socks and the “get well” wishes, but all I can offer at this time is my deepest apology. It does mean a lot to get comments from you even if I’ve failed recently to respond. Please accept my humble apology and know that I’m going to sincerely try to do better at that.

The only thing that really explains my lack of activity in blog-land, is because I honestly just haven’t felt well enough to sit at the computer for any length of time. I’ve been having my fair share of the run around with doctors and I’m fed up to my eyeballs with the whole thing. If you want to know what’s going on, read the next paragraph, but if not, definitely skip it.

The last doctor told me that I probably do have hypothyroidism, but that he wanted to treat my fibromyalgia first. What? Excuse me? Fibro-what? Where did this diagnosis come from? He pretty much refused me the necessary thyroid medication and instead gave me some other drugs instead for the fibromyalgia. So where does that leave me? Well, I have a bunch of free meds I will never take for a condition I’m not sure I have, and still nothing to treat what I think the real problem is. I contacted my insurance company and although it’s going to cost me some money, I’ve opted to refer myself to a endocrinologist. Thankfully I have an appointment Thursday morningand if I can’t get the help I need there I’m throwing myself off the roof of my house. No need to worry though.. I have a single story home, so it’s hardly even worth the climb to the top.

In knitting news, there’s actually not been a lot of knitting in the last few weeks. Currently, I’m finishing up a pair of socks that I’ve been working on for weeks and weeks. I also finally figured out the crochet edge on my shawl that has been sitting unfinished for approximately a month. When I figured out how simple the edging was I was so mad at myself for not attempting it sooner. I think committing to not starting any new shawls until that one was finished was all the motivation I needed and now that shawl is finally blocking.

I’ve also just completed blocking the swatch for the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. I’m so glad MS3 came along and that I joined since this project actually has me excited to knit again. For the last 2 weeks, I haven’t hardly even looked at my needles, let alone knit with them. Now that my swatch is complete, I’m anxiously awaiting the first clue for MS3, especially since I’m knitting with the Lane Borgosesia Cashwool yarn I picked up at the Loopy Ewe. It wasn’t in the budget, but I honestly have been wanting a black shawl for myself and since there was no black laceweight in my stash, I HAD to shop!

By the way, the other photo is just a few more skeins of the Panda Cotton yarn in ivory. I didn’t want the Cashwool to ship all by itself from The Loopy Ewe, so the Panda Cotton joined it in the journey to my home. I think it will be perfect for another pair of summer socks.

Read Full Post »

My PJ’s

I’ve had these silly things finished for a few days, but finally got the photos taken, so here are my new PJ’s (PandaCotton Jaywalkers)

Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina
Pattern Source: MagKnits September 2005
Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Cotton in Faded Jeans
Needles: (2) Knit Picks Circulars size 2.5mm (1 1/2 US)

Modifications: Knit toe-up using Judy’s magic cast-on. In the pattern stitch, I knit 5 stitches in between the increase and decrease stitches instead of the 7 or 8 as the pattern states. If I were to knit these again with this yarn, I’d do 6 stitches in between the increase and decrease sections. It’s not that they are tight, but I would prefer them a bit less “snug”. I also chose to shorten the leg section to make these more of a summery ankle-length sock.

Notes: I’m definitely in love with this yarn. It is PERFECT for the California (or warm climate) sock-knitter. It’s soft, a bit stretchy, comes in a great assortment of colors and not only does it feel light-weight and a bit “airy”, but it’s antimicrobial. It does split a bit, but not any more noticeable than my current yarn (Regia Silk 6-ply). I was originally going to knit Sockbug’s Crooked Cable Socks, but because I couldn’t get gauge, I had to abandon it and remembered that the Jaywalker pattern could probably be easily modified. By changing the amount of stitches in between the increases and decreases, I was able to easily “get gauge” and knit the perfect pair of ankle socks for the summer.

Yes, if you click on the photos for larger, you’ll notice my horribly hairy legs. My husband was on a 3 day business trip and I haven’t been feeling well enough to go anywhere, so I figured .. what’s the point? Now I’m starting to regret that decision. Forever, my hairy legs will be captured in time on my blog on the Internet for all to see ….. (sigh).

Since all the “cool kids” are doing it, I just joined the Mystery Stole 3.

I find something intriguing about not knowing what the finished object looks like. I’m most definitely stepping out of my comfort zone for this. Who else is joining in? What yarn are you using? If you’re not participating, why not?

Read Full Post »