Why I Knit Socks

It's no use going to the goat's house to look for wool.
-Irish Proverb

This is my sister, about 3 minutes after I gave her a new pair of socks. Specially requested to be like the last pair - that is, "too soft to be wool." (Thanks Judy!)

These are in Fiesta Baby Boom - a delightful squishy sock yarn that is definitely "too soft to be wool" and meet the demanding requirements of my sister that they be perfect for reading legal treatises in a drafty apartment.

And that, my friends, is why I knit socks. Keeping feet warm and comfy from Somewhere, Iraq to Philadelphia to San Diego.

It's About Time

If you're walking down the right path
and you're willing to keep walking,
eventually you'll make progress.
-Barack Obama

I started 2009 in a flurry of good intentions, cast-on projects, and grand proclamations to knit, knit, knit. Twelve sweaters. 100 balls of yarn. Massive stash reduction.

So it's about time that I finished my first project of the month:
This is probably the worst possible photo of a gorgeous pair of socks - the Artichoke Socks in a gorgeous semi-solid Koigu. Stunning. And the first two balls of yarn knit in 2009. . . only 98 to go!

I find myself in the midst of a great many large projects, including a husband sweater in cotton. The Cable Down Raglan is rapidly nearing completion. Which will be the first sweater of NaKniSweMoDo, but only a single ball of yarn. So it goes . . .
In other promising news, my bread-baking life has been revolutionized thanks to a Christmas gift of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
Try it - it's amazing! And for all it's speediness, it's probably not the reason my productivity has been down, right?

The Truth Comes Out

Life is like eating artichokes,
you have to go through so much to get so little.
- Thomas A. Dorgan

I hate twisted stitches. There. I said it. So sue me.

I had all sorts of good intentions for my one scheduled/planned knitting of 2009 - the Personal Sock of the Month Club. And then I pulled out the bag with this lovely jeweled green Koigu that I had earmarked for the Snicket pattern. Which is a lot of twisted stitches on a purl background.

After forcing the interns and anyone else who happened to be on call last night to look, we all agreed that the right side of the project was not nearly so attractive as the wrong side. So I set about on my Ravelry queue looking for a stockinette based sock pattern.

Maybe it's the green, but I just had to start the Artichoke Socks. And they got twice as far in half the time. No twisted stitches here!

Full Disclosure

Colors, like features, follow the change of the emotions.
-Pablo Picasso

I'm glad there's so much general support for a year of just casting on whatever. In fact, there's so much support that I really felt free to start a whole month early. It's like those 13 month calendars.

Apparently I was really feeling the lack of stranded colorwork. Meet Bondegard, a ridiculous (and ridiculously cute) Dale baby sweater that involves 14 colors of yarn. (They're labeled as 15, but the pullover doesn't need color 14. If you look closely, you can see that I had to take my sharpie and label each with it's color number and the chart symbol. And we all wonder why my stash is growing . . .
Since Bondegard is a bit of a lengthy project, I went for some more immediate gratification. In fact, it's surprisingly fast - almost instant! Here are the Snowflake Socks from the Fall 2007 Interweave in KnitPicks Telemark. They're so delightful I had to pull them on before even taking the dpns out of the toe!

Good thing I'm moving along here. The yarn for the Tree Bark Pullover has arrived off back order. I'd sort of forgotten that I'd ordered not one but two options for the contrast color. For those of you not following in excruciating detail, see the linked post here. I decided to continue with the Tree Bark Pullover in Mission Falls 1824 cotton. My main color is Indigo (#404), and my options for the contrast color are Chicory (#401) and Sky (#403). Both are light blues. The Chicory is more of a slate and the Sky is more, well, sky-like. Both are pleasing with the Indigo. Any thoughts? I'm withholding judgment (and thus, casting on, since the cast on row is in the contrast color) until I can see and compare them in sunlight.

Tweed, Glorious Tweed

Ask where's the North? At York 'tis on the Tweed; in Scotland at the Orcades;

and there, At Greenland, Zembla, or the Lord knows where.

-Alexander Pope

I can't think of enough good things to say about the new Interweave Knits. The cover sweater alone is enough, and then the whole section on tweedy goodness. . . . It's too much.

And it's more than just the patterns. Beyond just liking a sweater or a pattern or a yarn or a color, there's another consideration when a project catches our eye. It's the fantasy aspect. What would my life be like if I, too, wore delightful tweedy bobble cardigans with belts? An idyllic countryside, or maybe a chic urban woman who bothered to wear something other than hooded sweatshirts on her way to work?

I want to live the life that the Blooming Cardigan conjurs up in my mind. (I think it's the belt, or the buttons on the top RIGHT collar, discontinuous from the rest of the buttons. Or something.) And I want to hang out there, wherever that is, with my sister, who would adore the Ropes and Picots Cardigan. We were raised in a cardigan-loving family of women who are always cold and go nowhere without a little cardigan, "just in case." And the shoulder detail on the Ropes and Picots! The whole thing also makes me wonder why I have never made something with a picot hem for my sister, who is so clearly - now that I see this cardigan - a picot sort of person. (You can tell from the photo here of her wearing Rowena. Clearly a picot person, isn't she?) Back to the new IK, it will come as no suprise to any of you that the Holly and Poinsetta Mittens strike my fancy, since they a) are mittens and b) are colorwork and c) are the least practical thing for the San Diego climate. To be a good enabler, I should point out that there is a kit available here for the mittens for a reasonable $55. That I think $55 is a reasonable amount to spend on mittens reminds me I should go donate money to the food bank given the overwhelming number of news articles such as this.

There is, however, a temporary solution to my stream-of-consciousness fantasy life. Tweed socks.


Warm and Tweedy Goodness
Pattern: William Street Socks, available free on the Interweave Knits site
Yarn: Regia Tweed, 6-fadig (sportweight)
Needles: US 2
Notes: I actually knit this toe-up with a short-row heel, which I rarely do. I liked the directionality of the cables and didn't want to mess with figuring out how to reverse it. Also, this pattern calls for what seems to be a crazy number of stitches, but the cables really pull in. The only mod I made was to do the ribbing for the entire back leg, rather than stockinette and then ribbing at the top.
Best Thing About This Project: They'll absolutely match the Blooming Cardigan. Too bad they're not for me.

Wednesday is for Works-in-Progress

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple
in a field somewhere and don't notice it.
-Alice Walker

All this resurrecting old FOs, and posting daily for more than half a month, and shamefully little attention has been paid to what is actually on the needles.

How about a preview of the next FOs?

First up, finishing up the Socktoberfest startitis:

Little Child's French Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, in a delightful purple Rowan Botany. This is a lovely sproingy yarn deep from the recesses of the stash, and it's looking good. I'm done the first sock, and a few repeats down the cuff of the second.

Next, My So-Called Scarf.
This was October's Yarn of the Month, but I've only just started paying attention to it. This exact yarn for this exact project has been stash marinating since December 2005 when I was visiting a friend in Seattle. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, and there it was. About time, and isn't it lovely?Unfortunately, lace work-in-progress photos are less lovely. This is the North Sea Shawl from Folk Shawls, which has been in my mental queue since I first started knitting. That was one of the few knitting books the local library had when I started knitting, and I used to dream about the projects. No time like the present, using some lovely fingering weight alpaca in navy blue that my brother brought me from Peru. It's an easy repetitive pattern for now, and I'm enjoying it. I had been holding steady with those projects and the Dale, until this weekend. A one (or two, or three, or . . .) project knitter I am not. So I started Debbie Bliss' Seed Stitch and Cables baby sweater out of some blue Cotton Ease.
Is it just me, or does Debbie Bliss have the largest children? This is the 18 month size, and it looks like it would easily fit my 10 yo niece.

And, while it didn't make the photo shoot, I also cast on for the Aran Watch Cap from Charlene Schurch's Hat's On! book in a burdgundy Paton's Classic Merino. I need to be prepared for the annual family Christmas pollyanna, and picking names on Thanksgiving doesn't leave a lot of time for knitters.

The good news is that I expect to finish all of these except the shawl (but I will finish the Dale!) by the end of the month. . . which should help offset the stash aquisition for the Second Anniversary Sweater. Is it wrong to be happy that my yarn is backordered and hopefully won't come until December? Or is that just the kind of fuzzy accounting that got the whole economy in trouble?

Wow!

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any one thing.
-Abraham Lincoln

Oh yeah, that too :) But getting back to the knitting, I count this year's Socktoberfest as a complete success.

I finished one pair of socks that was on the needles at the beginning of the month, started and finished two more pairs, finished a single sock, and even got the cuff done on a 5th pair. Clear as mud? Here are the photos of the finished ones:

Garter Rib Socks in Koigu
Nine-to-Five Socks in Paton's KroyOld Navy Socks in Socks that Rock

Great patterns, great yarns, and, of course, all from the stash!

Hi-Ho November!

Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours.
-Swedish Proverb

Gosh I'm happy it's November! Let's think about the good things:

1. No one died last night at work. Yeah, that's always a good thing.
2. It was my last call for a while. I get to sleep at home every night for the next 24 days.
3. Except when I'm going to Santa Fe next week to experience the following - cold weather, sweaters, hats, mittens even?, visiting my parents, and some very good friends.
4. Rachel had her twins - how cute!
5. I'm halfway done my Christmas shopping.
6. Now if only I was halfway done my Christmas knitting . . .
7. It's NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month. Get ready!

And, to start November off right, here's the very last knitting of October:I finished these socks at 11:30pm last night while waiting for a patient to get transferred up from the ER. I was unable, however, to kitchener the 16 sts and weave in 2 ends. So, it's either the last knit of October or the first of November.

What's the difference? The stash. The stash has recently suffered some major setbacks in that it is bigger than before. The 350 yards of Koigu in those socks take the revised stash total from 100,039 yards to a much nicer 99,689 yards. Remember how good it felt to get under 100,000 yards? I'm hoping to stay there.

So, executive decision made - since, through no fault of my own, the weaving in waited until today - these will be the last knit of November.

And so we start with 99,909 yards of yarn in 510.25 balls. Not counting partial oddballs. . . And about to order the yarn for the manly sweater. That executive decision will be coming tomorrow.

Funny Feet

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
-William Cullen Bryant

I warned you that a summer of much knitting and little blogging would leave a large pile of knits to go through. For me, the hardest part is going to be remembering what I have or have not taken photos of. The second hardest part is that they are competing with all my current projects.

In honor of Socktoberfest I picked four pairs of socks that I'm going to make, and just cast on for the Williams Street Socks from Knitting Daily last night. Even toe up, like the pattern is written (which is true dedication on my part, since I do not love toe-up socks).

Since, as you might expect of someone who had one sock in progress and then cast on for three more, that equals three single socks, 3 partial cuffs, and a single toe, I'll go back and show you some of my summer socks.

First, the not-quite-so-boring work pair:

Uniform Socks
Pattern: basic rib
Yarn: Wildfoote in black, and unknown remnants in blue (Sisik?) and yellow (pretty sure this is Regia)
Needles: US 1
Notes: As you note, the contrast heel starts halfway down the heel, so as not to poke out of shoes. The toes are a happy accident due to being worried about running out of the blue.
Best Thing About This Project: Definitely my new favorite work socks.

More Fraternal Twins
Pattern: Standard Stockinette
Yarn: won from Beth in a blog contest a while back
Needles: US 2 Lantern Moon sock sticks (which are so going on my Christmas list)
Notes: There are 3 colors here - two solids and a varigated. I had planned to do the stashbuster spirals, but the colors were too close in value and the pattern was invisible. So I embraced simplicity and went with fraternal twins.
Best Thing About This Project: I love using my special yarns.

A Winner!

Better an ounce of luck than a pound of gold.
-Yiddish Proverb

Wahoo, I'm a winner!
After lusting after box bags for the past several years, I finally got one. And without having to test out my rusty sewing skills. I won a blog contest over at bySarah, with my fabulous Jersey Summer Peach Salsa (recipe on Sarah's blog here).So I love my box bag, the sock yarn, the tea and biscotti, and the stitch markers - all in coordinating colors - but what makes this so perfect is that Sarah is actually my blog twin. We knit the same projects. Lately we've been cooking. And I get a Rhode Island fix by reading her blog. Good times all around.

In honor of Socktoberfest, here's my first of four intended pairs of socks to celebrate. I've been in the mood to knit simple things lately (the Dale is just hanging out in its basket), and these Garter Rib Socks are fitting the bill. I've decided that Koigu is it's own reward, even in a delightfully simple pattern.And, one more thing, speaking of cooking - check out the pumpkin bread: Pumpkin bread may also be its own reward, but it's even better in heart-shaped pans bound for Iraq. And he wondered why I put them on the wedding registry . . .

Spring Socks

The enemy of good is better.

-Proverbial

I'm still pondering what to do with the alpaca, and I really appreciate all your suggestions. For some reason the teddy bear idea is rising to the forefront as appropriate for the mood of the moment, but then I'm still torn about whether to just go with the mood, or hold out for something that is theoretically more perfect. Then again, see the quote above.

So, as I ponder, I have been knitting some socks for spring.

The March Yarn of the Month was a skein of Socks that Rock that made a lovely cushy sock.

Spring Socks
Pattern: Mad Color Weaves, available free on Ravelry downloads, the coolest one-stop shopping ever
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight in, er, a pretty spring color
Needles: US 2, after experimentation to find a ratio that didn't pool
Notes: Great pattern. Cushy yarn. It was a little frustrating to find a needle size and cast-on number that didn't pool, though.
Best Thing About This Project: Wearing them at night, after my flipflops!

And, I knit a pair for the May Day Swap. Here's a teaser photo.

May Day Socks
Pattern: Charade, also a free Ravelry download
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
Needles: US 1
Notes: Great pattern, great yarn
Best Thing About This Project: The modeled shot is here.

And, last but not least:

Thuja
Pattern: from Knitty
Yarn: KnitPicks Memories for a purple-loving friend
Needles: US 2 - love my new KnitPicks dpns!
Notes: Great fun pattern. No issues, no changes
Best Thing About This Project: The perfect gift for one of the readers in our wedding.

Loose Knitting

I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a part of hell will break loose -

it'll be much harder to detect.

-George Carlin

I've been doing a much better job lately of knitting than I have of blogging, as I mentioned last time. In addition to flying along on my big projects, I've had a steady stream of small portable projects. (What? The Dale with 25 50-gram balls of wool is not so portable? Hmmm . . .) As part of my grand strategy to not get too distracted from those 25 balls of wool, I've been following along with the Loose Knit Group on Ravelry/Yahoo. Every month has a theme for gifts to make in (theoretical) preparation for the next holiday season. While I've made a few things for the gift basket, mostly I've just really enjoyed the theme aspect. Reorganizing my Ravelry queue, playing within the rules, well, you know me and themes . . . February was for hats. While I didn't go quite as crazy as January's mitten month, I did make a few. A suprise favorite was this easy ribbed hat. Fun, easy, and check out the nice way the ribs swirl into the decreases. This is just a lovely hat all around, and quite versatile for the gift basket.

1/4 Ribbed Hat
Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat from FigKnits
Yarn: Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters in an unknown color
Needles: KnitPicks Harmony circs, US7 - nice and smooth
Notes: A perfect pattern. No mods.
Best Thing About This Pattern: The perfect use for this yarn. Can I move into the Mountain Colors Studio?

March was for socks. I very well may finish my 3rd pair for the month today before the witching hour, but I only have photos of one. This not-terribly-exciting pair was born out of necessity after one cold early-March day when I had to - gasp! - wear store-bought black socks with my uniform. It was truely awful.

Another Pair of Uniform Socks
Pattern: 1x1 ribbed cuff, 3x1 ribbed body, with heel flap and regular toe
Yarn: Black Sheep Wildfoote in black and accents in Blood Red
Needles: US 1 dpns
Notes: A speedy knit. This yarn crocks like crazy though, so watch out.
Best Thing About This Project: That splash of color? Our little secret. Because these socks are 100% uniform-compliant.

Coming soon . . . The return of Time Machine Tuesday (anyone else have some classic knits to share?), more socks, another hat, and the Dale Salt Lake City steaming towards the finish line.

Bearfoot in Irony

Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top.

Then you will see how low it was.

-Dag Hammarskjold

Sometimes playing with camera settings is successful. Sometimes, it is not. Alas. My Bearfoot socks (finished some time ago, actually, as they were January's yarn) are much lovelier than they appear here.
Rib and Cable Socks Pattern: Rib and Cable Socks by Nancy Bush from an old IK
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Glacier - I love this yarn!
Needles: US 1 dpns
Notes: No changes to the pattern. Nancy Bush always does something a little different with her heels and toes, and I like seeing how it comes out.
Best Thing About This Project: There are always so many wonderful things about handknit socks, aren't there?

A Spring in My Step

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.
-Doug Larson

Since it's probably obvious that I've been spending nearly all my time at the hospital lately, it must be equally obvious that my sweater projects aren't coming with me. I made some great progress on Salt Lake City on my day off last week (just wait until you see the Olympic Flame!), but the daily knitting has been a little more mundane. . . . If by mundane you mean knitting with gorgeous sock yarns. (And who doesn't love a good yarn cake?) The one on the left is Socks that Rock Lightweight in Waterlilies. This is my first STR experience, and I join you all in loving the base yarn and the colors. The pooling, on the other hand, not so much. It took multiple cast ons to find something reasonable, but now they're happily becoming Mad Colorweave Socks.

The yarn on the right is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Mountain Creek for an upcoming swap and a recipient who likes jewel tones. I'm loving these jewel tones so much I'm tempted to go out and buy some more . . . Charade is a great pattern for varigated yarns; highly recommended.

Which would defeat the point that these are both from stash. And great patterns for varigated sock yarns. In progress photos may eventually make their way into the world. In the meantime, it's nice to have a project for every state of mind, isn't it?

Birthdays Are For Socks

All weddings, except those with a shotgun in evidence, are wonderful.
-Liz Smith

You may recall from previous years that - being a man sound in mind and spirit - my dad is a fan of handknit socks. Earlier this year he dropped the subtle hint that he thought his socks collection was a little low. In particular, he requested bright socks. Think these will do?

I have it on good authority that he likes them:

The socks are the softest, smoothest I've ever worn. you have me spoiled.
I would like to wear them with my Tux on April 12. They are green and will match my Green vest, your Mom's dress, etc.
They are black and will match the Tux; they are Navy, and will match the rest of the bridal party.

Your Mom rightfully so, suggested that I run this by you for your permission, as it is your day, and the uniformity will be somewhat askew, if my socks aren't a BORING black. (PS-- even though I am asking, If you say NO, I won't follow your advice!)

Dad's Birthday Socks
Pattern: basic stockinette stitch
Yarn: Regia stripe I picked up in Germany a couple of years ago
Needles: US 1
Notes: None. Regia is by far my favorite of the "regular" sock yarns - soft, wears like iron, and comes in great colors.
Best Thing About This Project: They'll be coming to my wedding.*

*For those of you confused about my marital status, rest assured that my husband and I are happily, legally married. Due to the joys of being a dual military couple, the church-y-reception-y part is separated in space and time from the rest and is coming up in April.

Spring is Springing

A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King.

-Emily Dickinson

My apologies for missing Time Machine Tuesday again this week. The good news is that my eyes are healing (so saith my opthalmologist), and I should be in a position to get my new prescription (and the snazzy new frames I'm going to treat myself to!) in the next couple of weeks. The bad news is that I'm still on the wards. And it's pretty busy. At any rate, there's still the occasional knitting going on.

In spite of the woollen goodness that is my knitting these days, spring is coming into southern California in a really lovely way this year. I had the opportunity (and the day off!) to drive up into Orange County last Saturday to attend JayJay's baby shower (full of knitters!), and the drive was filled with orange and yellow wildflowers on the side of the road. It was a nice contrast to the snow-capped mountains to the East, and the palm trees and ocean coast to the West.
I do have one finished object appropriate for more springy-weather: The Chevron Scarf that snuck up on us all out of nowhere.

To answer some questions, well really, the question - how many leftovers did I use? I used the leftovers from 2 pairs of socks. I have small feet, so I'm guessing this is about 35g of each. The scarf came out about 60" long, a little shorter than what was called for in the pattern, but perfectly adequate for a nice thin spring neck wrap.


Can anyone recommend a good small scale that is accurate to 1 gram? All the kitchen scales I find are only accurate to 1 oz, which is 3+ grams and not a margin of error I want for knitting.

Random Wednesday

A hotel isn't like a home, but it's better than being a houseguest.
-William Faulkner

1. I feel so very far behind on the blogging relative to the knitting. There's just been so much knitting going on.
2. Here's the project that took my whole bathtub to block. It's a gift, so we'll save the big reveal for later.
3. Like my Bird in Hand Mittens.
4. And other mittens, photos coming later. Because my Selbuvotter finally came in the mail. And I love knitting with KnitPicks Telemark. More on the way.
5. And while I'm waiting for more yarn to finish those mittens, I pulled out a whole bunch of yarn for otehr mittens. Think I'll ever stop?
6. Did you know that Lantern Moon will replace broken dpns for free? Just email them.
7. I just got my Hogwarts Swap 2 from my pal. It's awesome.
8. And also awesome, she felt bad it was late, so she sent me a Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Check out my new Socks that Rock!
9. Stay tuned for a wrap up of a very successful kniting January, and some new exciting plans for February!
   

Sleeves are the New Socks

Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve.
-French Proverb

If brown is the new black and pink is the new brown, I declare that, for 2008, sleeves are the new socks. Sleeves are the new go-to portable knitting projects. Sleeves are the new knitting-while-reading project. Sleeves are the only way that my somewhat ambitious knitting plans for 2008 are going to come to fruition.

Exhibit A: One finished Salt Lake City sleeve

Exhibit B: One half-finished Salt Lake City sleeve

Exhibit C: all the time at home I did not spend knitting the plain stockinette portion of those two sleeves above

There's always a portable project, right? There's always something in your purse, backpack, or pocket of your white coat for those found and opportune moments, like waiting in line, pumping gas, or going to noon conference. Traditionally, I knit socks during these times. They had all the qualities in question - small, lightweight, easily-memorized patterns for maximal not-looking-at-my-knitting. Turns out that the first 15 3/4" of the Salt Lake City sleeves fit all of these criteria. So instead of slogging through 15 3/4" of stockinette on US3s in the round during my perfectly good knitting time at home, I got it done here and there. So when I did get home, it was the fun color chart that awaited me. And I dove right in and had a blast.

Now there's just that 15 3/4" of the plain stockinette body to do . . . Perfect plane knitting for my weekend trip to see my husband, and New Orleans.

Log Cabin-ing

There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.
-Alexis de Tocqueville

I've got not one but two pairs of finished Log Cabin socks for the Christmas basket. Log Cabin Socks
Pattern: from Handknit Holidays
Yarn: Tahki Dakota for the grey, and worsted weight wool from McAusland's Woolen Mill on PEI for the green/blue pair
Needles: US6 dpns for the grey, US5 for the green/blue
Notes: Great, easy pattern. Makes thick slipper socks, nothing that would fit in shoes.
Best Thing About This Project: And that about concludes my Christmas knitting.

Any updates from the peanut gallery?

More Mini Socks

Asteroids are the leftovers of rocky planets like Earth.

-Charles Beichman

I gave you the recipe here. These are super-fun.

Mini Socks
Pattern: mine-ish
Yarn: leftover Regia Cotton Surf in Natural and stripes
Needles: US1 dpns
Notes: How is it that I knit and knit and knit and still have so much yarn?
Best Thing About This Project: Making life better, one long call night at a time.