Knitting the Blues

Socktober!

Is it already over?

Ah, it looks like such a simple sock, doesn't it? Looks can be deceiving though....... Here are the details:

• Yarn: Trekking XXL, color 104 (here is a picture that is truer to color, but a little dark.  Just can't get it right!)
• Needles: size 0
• Design: Toe up, short row toes and heels Priscilla Gibson-Roberts style. Foot over 60 sts, increased to 66 at the cuff for a 4x2 rib.
• Started: Socktober 14
• Finished: Socktober 31

I am in love with these socks. The Trekking is wonderful and I have few complaints. There were some places that the twist of the yarn was tighter than the over all skein, but I dealt. I'd like to share with you what I go through to come up with a ribbed sock that I am happy with. It is helpful to know that I knit Continental or by picking, carrying the yarn over a finger on my left hand. First thing about knitting socks on double pointed needles. I hate *ladders* or the wonky stitches that you get where the needles intersect. To prevent this I do this acrobatic knitting thing where I knit the first stitch on each needle by wrapping the yarn over the needle instead of under it, making a twisted stitch. So, at the beginning of each needle I knit into the back of the first stitch (to untwist) and create a twisted stitch on the needle. I pull on that stitch pretty tightly and knit the second stitch regularly, pulling tightly as well. I am pleased with the outcome. NOW, if you think that is acrobatic, getting an even rib is even more fun. I create a twisted stitch for each knit that is followed by a purl and each purl that follows a knit stitch. BUT, there are places that this doesn't work. Where this is a 4x2 rib, if the fourth knit is the first stitch on the needle, twisting it, for some inexplicable by me reasons actually creates a wonky stitch rather than eliminating it. So, that stitch has to be knit regularly and tightly. Let's say that KUT=knit stitch, untwisting the existing stitch and creating a twisted knit and PUT=purl stitch, untwisting the existing purl stitch and creating a twisted purl stitch, this is how my knitting goes:

• Needle 1: K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT.
• Needle 2: PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3.
• Needle 3: K1, (first stitch on the needle, but fourth k, which will be wonky if I KUT, so it needs to be a K1) PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K1.
• Needle 4: KUT, K1, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1, K3, KUT, PUT, P1.

Whew! Did you follow that? I know! It seems like a lot to got through, but I love the rib with out that wonky last knit stitch. Click away for a terrible close-up photo of my ribbing. Now that I look closely, the stupid first knit stitch is looking a little funny. STOP LOOKING TERRY!!!!!!

There, now you have my Socktober sock post. And I am off to get ready for the parade of ghouls and goblins. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Second Sock Syndrome......Blues Style

Go ahead, click to see Second Sock Syndrome!

Second Sock Syndrome ala Blues: A definite pattern of behaviour in which after finishing and loving a sock, the knitter is totally incapable of duplicating that sock, no matter how many times he or she tries. This syndrome can lead to the knitter wearing many unmatched first socks together, the first symptom of the insanity that reknitting and reknitting and reknitting the second sock can cause.

Let's take the sock on the right foot. You might remember this sock. If not, go ahead, it's a quick read. I almost heard all of you who said to move on! Get over this sock and knit something you will love. I gave it one more try. And look at my foot in the second picture! This time the stupid sock is TOO BIG!!!!

I just LOVELOVELOVE, love, LOVE, love the sock on my left foot. I really am wearing it around the house while waiting for the second sock. Okay, well only a little, but I am a little. And while there is a story involved in that sock, the deal today is the SSS. With all of that love flying around, I quickly cast on and knit the foot of the second sock. Oooooh, I was loving it, and stockinette stitch goes by so quickly. AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!! My row gauge was DIFFERENT! The sock was going to be TOO LONG! Can you say RRRRIIIIPPP? If this sock doesn't work you may see a lot of really great sock yarn being given away in my sidebar. Stay tuned.

Thanks to all of you that had such kind things to say about Gillian's quilt!  I tried to (and am still working on) getting back to each of you.  Will this become a knitting/quilting blog?  Who knows?

Gillian's Quilt

I have knitting to show you! I really do. There is the finished body of Rogue (and I think it will fit quite nicely!), there is the sock I started over the weekend that I have frogged once because I thought it was too big and now I think I need to take it back before the heel again because I still think it is too long, and I think the ribbed bit is too tight, so I need to add a rib or something so I can wear it on my actual calf (which isn't exactly huge, but too small is too small-no matter how wimpy my calf muscle is). Whew! Talk about your run on sentence! Unfortunately the sun has not been cooperative when I have had the moments to take pictures, so I've got nothing.

How about if I distract you with a quilt? This is Gillian's *Going Off To College* quilt. The month before she left for her freshman year we set out to Portsmouth Fabric Company (my favorite sort of local fabric shop) and spent a couple of hours pulling bolts off of the shelves, accepting fabrics, rejecting others, it was such a fun time. She had this throw pillow that she had gotten that she wanted to match, it was orange, and a denim comforter. I don't think I would have ever come up with this combination of fabrics on my own, but she has an eye, don't you think? The pattern for the quilt is the Yellow Brick Road design by Atkinson Designs. Putting the top of this quilt together was a challenge for me, because, there is sort of a randomness to the construction. Just cut strips and pile them alongside the sewing machine and randomly assemble them into blocks, then arrange the random blocks and sew them together. If you know me even just a little bit, then you know that I broke out in a drenching sweat the second that the dearest daughter chose this design. BUT! Being a loving mother who was sending her oldest child out into the world, I wanted some of my love to warm her while she was away. I perservered. I finished the top and had it sandwiched with the batting and the backing before she left. She absolutely loved it. Was thrilled.

Fast forward two years later and the quilt was still sitting in my sewing/fiber room (the family thinks it is the game room, feh!) unquilted and unbound. And I was feeling a little guilty for that. It wasn't like she had forgotten it after all, she reminded me every so often that she hoped to get it before she graduated. Whatever! My intention was to machine quilt it myself, but I was paralyzed by the thought of it. I'm sure I can handle it, but I really didn't want to wreck it. After two years of procrastination I sent it out to be long arm quilted. Then I bound it and WALA! I surprised Gillian with it last week when she came home for fall break. She had just that day been telling her roommate that her mother had made her a quilt, but she didn't think I was ever going to finish it. Oh, she of little faith.

Now-for all of you quilting purists out there: I love putting quilt tops together. Any design or pattern, I love choosing fabrics and sewing them together, making the points perfectly match up and all that. I haven't much interest at this time in quilting, by hand or machine. I am thrilled that those long arm quilting machines are around and someone else can do it for me. After all, a friend recently quoted someone on her blog: "A finished quilt is better than a perfect quilt." Gillian knows so.

There Was a Lot of Blue Stuff at Rhinebeck

And lovely sunset pinky blue too! It should really be named Sandy's Evening Sunset.  Truly.  That is the roving inspired by the photo that Sandy took and I submitted to Helen at Bay Colony Farm when she had her contest to inspire a new fiber and yarn color.  How freaking cool is that!?  The roving is a lovely color, but the yarn is waiting a bit until Helen works it out just right.  Yeah, so what is with the Madame Tussaud's look about me?   

It seems as I check out the reports of the weekend that everyone has the same problem that I do. It's just too much. It's just all too much to blog about and really get the story across well. There was so much fiber and yarn and food (and the fair food wasn't bad if you knew where to look-lamb, wilted spinach, lamb ravioli, yummy artichoke sautees. I mean, it wasn't high end cuisine or anything, but I'm salivating with the memories). And as you can see I did get a picture taken with a sheep. Sadly, I took far too few photos, I was so busy being overwhelmed by it all. I sat down at a spinning wheel (a Robin Wheel, it was just lovely) for the first time and with Kim's help I got it, first try. I think I heard someone say "she's a natural!" but honestly, I know those are just words intended to get me to *drink the koolaid,* so to speak. It has me thinking that maybe I will try it out. Afterall, I have some roving don't I? Now I just need a wheel. Sigh.

And there were the people. So many people that I just know if I try to mention all the bloggers and non-bloggers I saw, met, shopped with, ate with, laughed with, and just plain hung out with, I would forget someone important and I really don't want to slight anyone. If any of you are reading, I was thrilled to meet all of you. It was worth the white knuckle drive in the pouring rain on Friday and I hope we can do it again sometime. I'm no comment 'ho, but leave me one so anyone reading can know who I got to hang with this weekend.

Yes, I did buy some stuff, but not a lot. In other words, there was still some blue yarn left when exited the fairgrounds. Maybe I'll get some pictures tomorrow. Along with a finished Rogue body. Two sleeves to go!

Finally!

Three weeks after I put my Sockpal-2-za socks in the mail, they finally arrived! Carolyn and her blog, SO MUCH YARN, SO LITTLE TIME, was unknown to me before I drew her as my sock recipient, and I have loved getting to know her. She is a super knitter, makes so many socks my head spins thinking about catching up, and has an easy to read writing style. Best of all, it looks like THE SOCKS FIT!!!!! Hooray, hooray, hooray. Hooray.

On the subject of socks, I am having a stupidly rough time with this pair:

See how the needles are missing? Yeah, that is just how that sock looked before I frogged it the second time! Apparently my gauge has dramatically tightened up since I knit the foot of the first sock. WTF!? I knit the first sock on size 0s. I knit the second on a different pair of 0s. The size is way off, so I think that maybe the different brand of needle was the cause. RIP! Reknit on different size 0s and it STILL IS TOO SMALL! (Is this a new theme here at the Blues?) So, I have three choices. One, reknit on the same size 0s and try to knit looser. Two, reknit on size 1s. Three, screw them and cast on that really cool Trekking XXL that I have been dying to knit up. I'll work on Rogue while I think about it.....

Unfinished Business?

I realized today that I have to make some serious thank-yous on this here blog. I have thanked these people in passing on the old blog and sent emails, but haven't pulled out all of the stops and made a real public deal of it all. So here goes!

My Secret Pal 5 was the lovely Shobhana (I just really dig that name) of My Life in Stitches. She did a good job of spoiling me with yarn, that is for sure. Here is the last giftee she sent me (sans the extra yummy dark chocolate, which didn't make it for long around here!):

Thank you, Shobhana!

And while I am rolling out my presents, look what Lindsey, my Sockpal-2-za sent me:

Lovely Lorna's Laces

Outside of my mother this is the first person to ever knit something for me. Awwww........ I love these socks, there are so many lovely details. The eyelet ribbing, the neat eyelet that works its way down the heel flap, and check out the seed stitch toes. Lindsey, I just really love the socks, thanks so much. I'd love to know where you found the pattern for these lovelies. I'm still waiting to hear from the person that I made socks for. I'm on pins and needles.......

I just have to share with you the little something I made for my SP5. Kimmi is a very busy young woman balancing a new kitten, school (learning to be a pastry chef! How yummy is that!?) and a new job with a local pastry chef. She puts in some long hours! In honor of her training I included this with her last box of presents:

• Knitter's Lace Angels (back issues of Knitter's magazine or in this book)
• J&P Knit-Cro-Sheen
• size 1 needles
• made in a couple of days

This little angel was so much fun to make! First all of these teeny tiny bits are knit up, then they are stiffened on styrfoam eggs, or whatever you use, then all pieced together. This little angel was about 3" tall. Kimmi's favorite color is blue (a kindred spirit!) and I searched ebay for cakes that would fit in a doll house. I love the way she turned out. I hope Kimmi likes her too!

So that is the wrap up. Rogue is moving along. What is it about that pattern that sucks you in and holds on with a death grip until the knitting of it is finished. And then, aside from being thrilled to be stylin' in your new sweater, you wish you still had her to knit on. I feel the pull right now..........

Time To Face the Music

I have been blindly blissfully knitting along on a new project. In the honeymoon phase I have been ignoring squelching tolerating the little voice in my head. You know. That voice that we all had in our dating years, before we learned better. The one that said, "Once he is dating (or heaven forbid married to me) I will change him (or her, no panties in bunches here)." Remember those days? Well in knitting that voice says, "I can make it work in the blocking. I'll block the heck out of that baby!"  (I know Magpie Tweed has some bloomablility to it.) Thing is, I am now at a point of no return (well, not really, but I'd rather not have to return after this point). I'm thinking that my Rogue Cardi (have you seen Claudia's?)(Or this one?) might be a little too small. I'm leaving it at that. I'm going for a run, then I am going to shower and work on another little project I have going. Something about food in the house, meals and a paint color for the shutters. (I'd like to say, "Get it yourself!"). Please feel free to weigh in on the subject. Of the sweater, not the food. I'm stuck there.