knitabit

Be Still My Heart

No, this is not a blog entry about yarn lust. It's the regular kind of lust - Russell Crowe in "Master and Commander." Oooh, man in a ponytail playing a violin*. I had to watch that movie TWICE this weekend. Oh, and if you're actually into the plot, I suggest turning on the subtitles feature on the DVD. A lot of the dialog is either muddled or lost in a British accent.

ANYWAY, watching movies, as you know, provides an excellent knitting opportunity. As do soccer games. Here's what I accomplished:

This is the first of the pair of Sockotta socks for my daughter. They're ankle-high, and just a skoash big so they'll last more than a week or two. This is my regular ol' sock recipe, except I modified the toe decreases to make its shape more rounded instead of pointy.

And here's the left front of the Everyday Cardigan - I might finish it off today and then get started on the sleeves. I am actually looking forward to the finish work on this sweater. This has been one of the great benefits of getting involved in the knit blog world; all of the knit bloggers out there seem as though they really pay attention to finishing details, and it's been very inspiring to me. So this one I intend to do the RIGHT way, not the FAST way.

I should mention that the only circ's I have in a size 8 are from my Denise's Needles set, and they seem to be working just fine. I had such trouble with the smaller sizes in the Denise's set.

*I know, I know, he wasn't really playing it. But I was willing to suspend disbelief because it was Russell, after all.

Socks To Go

I found a $10 travel bag at Target today. Now I can have ALL of my sock-knitting supplies with me.

Here is the front of the bag:

It's sporty - not fussy - and very practical. Here is the back - note the zipper compartment near the top:

Inside that zipper compartment, I stashed all of my circular needles:

Note my sunburned hand and wrist - that's from knitting socks at the soccer game on Saturday!

And inside the main pocket, I can keep my current sock project AND a pocket full of supplies/notions (stitch markers, tape measure, scissors and a calculator); I've also got some dpn's in the bottom of the bag, and a tapestry needle and a crochet hook in there, too.

I made a stop at the new yarn shop - I'll blog about that tomorrow.

Memo to self

More good online resources about afterthought heels: Keyboard Biologist's detailed discussion from back in March, which includes links to Socknitter's Tips and Tricks, and Dawn Brocco's discussion.

The girl's Sockotta sock that I'm working on at the moment wouldn't show off the afterthought heel (it's not very stripey). I thought about putting in a contrast heel, but I don't think my other two colors of Sockotta would pair up well. Here's the progress so far:

My camera does not have good macro (close-up) capability. This is a distance shot (still not in sharp focus) that's been digitally "zoomed." Another memo to self: next camera, get one with a good macro lens.

So I think I'll stick with the regular heel for this pair, but will be on the lookout for a fun stripey yarn for my next pair. Another memo to self: use this as good excuse to stop in at the new yarn shop.

A benefit of active participation in sports

Of course, I'm talking about my KIDS' sports not mine. Yes, you get to sit and knit socks.

Here's what I completed yesterday, thanks to a soccer game:

I used the following new techniques from the "Warm Feet Cool Socks" book by Lucy Neatby:

- Provisional cast-on, making a tubular edge on the cuff. Good directions, good result. I will use this technique in my knitting from now on. Awesome!

- Short row garter stitch heels and toes. Hmmm, not so sure about these. I'm wearing the socks right now as I type this, and I can feel the garter stitch ridges around my heels and toes. I imagine the feeling will only get worse once I put on a shoe and the ridges start to actually dig in. But I'll give it a try. Plus, I don't think it's a very attractive feature, at least with this choice of yarn. And finally, it can only be done with dpn's, and that's not a fun way to knit, at least for me.

Next stripey sock, I'm going to try an "afterthought heel." I found some stunning examples of this while surfing around the knit blogs yesterday. Take a look at Loose Ends and Urbanspinner. I'm also anxious to start looking for the stunning yarns that these women are using to great effect! Wow!

"I Did Not Know That"

Addi Turbos with longer cables have longer needles.

I've been distorting my hands and fingers rather painfully trying to manipulate some too-short size 0 circulars. I only today figured out that if you buy them with a longer length cable (24"), the needle parts are longer also.

See?

Non-Knitting News

It's the busy time of year - the last day of school is 6-7 weeks away and already things are heating up: registering for next year, end-of-year concerts, track meets, field trips, projects...I'm getting weary just itemizing everything. Knitting will take a back seat for awhile, except for the sock I'm carrying around and piddling with from time to time.

This is, of course, the Fortissima yarn and I'm using some of the techniques suggested in Lucy Neatby's book, specifically the garter stitch short row heel and toe. I also did a tubular cast on that turned out pretty nice. It uses some provisional crochet stitches to get started, which was easier than I thought it would be. Still, I think I like the gusset-style socks better. They seem more comfortable.

I have an idea rattling around in my brain right now for a portable "sock kit" of some kind. I've noticed that my sock knitting supplies are pretty much separate from the rest of my knitting gadgetry, and I could keep it all together in one fairly small kit. It would be completely portable, and would include the ability to take along the current sock-in-progress. I'm debating whether to shop for some sort of container or make something. Hmmm.

In other news, a reorganization of my life's priorities will result in some major occupational changes for me effective June 1. I will cut back my Executive Director duties for DARCA to only 5 hours per week. I will also enter into some sort of employment contract with a firm up in Fort Collins for a small but steady amount of consulting work. These changes should result in fewer hours of work per week, but no decrease in income. I hope.

Concurrent with the work changes, I will re-dedicate myself to some proper housekeeping. I hope to also have time to (1) get a new domain name and kind of spruce up the whole internet presence (2) get wireless internet access (3) find more time for music, genealogy and knitting, and (4) paint and redecorate the kids' rooms.

And finally, I've just about HAD IT with the vulgar comment-spam that is polluting my blog. I can't WAIT for Movabletype to release its new version of MT. I understand that I will have a whole array of tools at my disposal for dealing with the porn-and-drug creeps.

Road Trip

There's nothing like a road trip to get in some quality sock-knitting time!

My daughter and I were passengers with my parents down to Albuquerque, NM to shop for a new violin. She recently outgrew her 1/4 size instrument, and we decided to pick out the 1/2 size in person instead of going the mail-order route again. Mom and Dad offered to drive since we have relatives in Albuquerque that we don't see often enough.

On the way down, I had my oldest son's socks finished by early afternoon:

He has worn them already and in fact, after I shot this photo this morning I dropped them in the laundry basket for their first washing.

I then started on some socks for my daughter. I wanted to use some Sockotta I got as a gift (Hi Lisa!) and I also wanted to try out some techniques from the Lucy Neatby book "Cool Socks Warm Feet." I tried some Sockotta previously on Size 1 needles and felt that Size 0 would be more suited to this yarn. The Neatby book reinforced this conclusion - she says you should use the smallest needle size possible when making socks.

I dutifully swatched and measured with the intention of making the perfect fit. Unfortunately, the sock is too small (too tight around the foot.) Do I rip it out? Do I stick with it and make them for my niece instead of my daughter? I'm still thinking it over...

I also tried a short-row heel instead of the heel flap. This is a garter stitch version of a short-row heel:

It was a real pain to figure out how to do this on circulars as opposed to dpn's.

Working with the Size 0's has been difficult, too. Although the circ's are 20" long, the needles themselves are too short for my hands. My fingertips are getting sore from pushing the needles around (it's bad technique to knit that way anyhow) and my hands are getting stiff from holding the too-short needles awkwardly.

So I don't know where I'll go from here.

The sock sure is cute, though.