kmkat and her kneedles

FO Friday. Quickly now, before Friday is over.

Socks The First.

I took these two yarns...

 

...and made a pair of double-thick socks.

Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Jeans Style Color, color 04042 (left) and Schachenmayr Regia Colormania, color 04070 (right).
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-up Socks, knit on 48 st.
Needles: US#2.5 (foot and ankle), US#4 (leg).

The resulting tweedy fabric is lovely, imo. If it would not be prohibitively warm -- and take roughly forever to knit! -- I would make a sweater out of combining these two yarns. As it is, I shall have to be content with the socks.

 

Socks The Second. 

You have seen these before, when I had to rip out the second one
because I was knitting it on the wrong size -- way too small! -- needle.

Yarn: Trekking XXL 494, Brown Rust, Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in Marine Heather and Prussian Heather.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-up Socks, knit on 48 st.
Needles: US#2.5 (foot and ankle), US#4 (leg).

  

Compare and contrast.

 

Most of these socks were knit with two strands of the brown Trekking; stripes were one strand of Trekking with one strand of the KP dark blue tweed. There is one stripe in the foot of the first sock made with brown Trekking and KP turquoise tweed (not distinguishable in the photos), but it seemed too bright for what I wanted, so I did not repeat that combination (nor did I rip it out). As you can see, the stripe pattern on the foot is different from the stripe pattern on the leg. And it looked like I was going to run out of the brown Trekking so the last 4-5” of the leg of the second sock are one strand of brown and one strand of dark blue, no stripes. 

Normally I am anal about my socks being matchy-matchy, but these had exhausted my patience. Can you tell?

 

FO Friday Sunday.

   

Three Four more pairs of fingerless gloves for the library's sale booth next summer. All are fingering weight yarn, double stranded, 40 st, and the first three are 3x1 rib.

Pair The First: Knit Picks Felici in Mountain Stream and Knit Picks Stroll bare; US#6 or 7, don't remember.

Pair The Second: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Merino, color 2103, and Universal Pace sock yarn, 6402 pink; US#7.

Pair The Third: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Merino, color 2103 again, and Knit Picks Stroll, in African Violet; US#6.

The ones on US#6 needles are a little too snug on my smallish hands; the ones on US#7 are just right.

Pair The Fourth: notice the clever cabling at the top?

 

How about now?

Pattern: Owlings.
Yarn: Two strands of fingering weight Lang sock yarn, one pale tan and the other slightly darker; eyes are one strand of black Knit Picks Stroll fingering weight.
Needles: Knit Picks Options US#7.

Making those eyes was a lot harder than I expected. First, I tried French knots; no go. They were either too small and disappeared into the knitting or they were too big and out of proportion. Then I tried embroidering them; the owls were suddenly east Asian. My friend Colleen was here getting help with the toddler sweater she is knitting for her grandson; she told me to make little Xs. And she was right. 

* * * * *

 And... it's another pair of double-thick socks for me. These knit up so quickly I cannot stop making them. I think I may double my sock wardrobe with these.

Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-up Sock, worked on 48 st.

Yarn: Trekking Pro Natura in color 1508, a navy heather, double-stranded with a navy and gray twist yarn that I got when I asked for sock yarn leftovers for that sock yarn afghan I started. There was enough of that yarn that, even after using most of it for these socks, I can still make the requisite number of squares. That afghan is calling to me...

Needles: US#2.5 for the feet and first 1" of the leg, US#4 for the rest.

 

 

 

 

This is how long it takes to get to Sioux Falls and back.

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug (100% merino, fingering weight), color 184 Scented Paprika, about 3/4 of a skein/300 yds.
Needle: Signature circ US#4.
Pattern: Sockhead Hat.

We went to visit Elder Son last weekend -- many hours in the car. I had cast on this hat the day before and knit a few rounds; it was my car knitting for the trip. Finished it on I-90 even before we turned north on I-35, so I was able to get a good start on another pair of double-thick socks.

I made myself a hat about a month ago, but it turned out to be droopy rather than slouchy, so it is in time out until I get the courage -- or energy -- to frog the last part and make it shorter. This one, however, is a winner! In my stash I have some handspun in a similar colorway that will become a coordinating scarf.

FO!

A former co-worker of Smokey's and former renter of our house had a baby over a year ago, and I promised her a sweater. While I knit it almost immediately, it sat... and sat... and sat... waiting for the arm seams to be sewn and a button added at the neck. I finally did that last little bit of finishing a couple weeks ago and mailed the sweater off to little Abby. Luckily for me, she is a tiny little peanut and will have plenty of room to grow into it.

Pattern: Baby Brights by Bev Galeska, heavily modified.
Yarn: Valley Yarns Superwash DK (100% superwash merino): 25 light gray, 14 teal, 13 forest, 12 grass, 14 blue mist, 19 misty lilac, 09 wild rose, 06 burgundy. Colors are truest in the WIP photo, below left.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#6.
Mods: As always, I do the whole sweater in stockinette stripes, except for the edgings in garter stitch.

   

Sunday mornin' comin' down.

Disclaimer: I am not hungover and have not suffered one of those in years and years. But the title of this post popped into my head, and how could I NOT have Johnny singing the original?

Onward.

When I started these fingerless gloves they were intended for the library's booth at the farmer's market. (btw, I made 10 pairs, and all 10 sold!) (and I have orders for more!) But they got stalled, and when I picked them up again the farmer's market had closed for the year. 

In the meantime I had signed up for Kim's TIS swap. As I finished the gloves I realized that they were perfect for the I(nitial) part of the swap. My swap partner's name is Melanie*, and these are Mitts (sort of). 

So they went off in the swap package that I delivered to the post office yesterday. I hope they fit and keep Melanie's hands warm and happy this winter!

Yarn: Filatura Lanarosa Pure Washable Merino. Color is much more blue than the photo. 
Pattern: Vancouver Fog, the shorter version.
Needles: US#7 circ.

Commenters, step forward!

My stats say that this blog gets 75 - 100 page views every day. But I get five comments per post, tops. Perhaps it's my subject matter? On the rare occasional that I blog about knitting, the comment count rises a bit.

Okay, let's talk knitting.

Back in the summer, when I got really, really, really sick of knitting fingerless gloves, I cast on a couple other projects. One is now finished, the other still OTN. We'll talk about that one another day.

Pattern: Multigrain.
Yarn: Shibui Knits Pebble (light fingering: 48% silk, 36% merino, 16% cashmere), Shibui Knits Silk Cloud (laceweight; 60% mohair, 40% silk), and Shibui Knits Cima (laceweight; 70% alpaca, 30% merino).
Needles: US#6

I saw this pattern in an email from the Yarnery, a LYS in St Paul, and it grabbed me. The pattern is nothing special -- cast on 70 st holding two strands of laceweight together and work seed stitch until forever. 

But the yarn! the yarn! The Silk Cloud is similar to Kid Silk Haze but much softer, more like angora. The Cima is lovely stuff, too; the Pebble, meh. Section one is two strands of Pebble, section two is one strand of Pebble held together with one strand of Cima, section three is two strands of Cima, section four is one strand of Cima held together with one strand of Silk Cloud. And so on, seven sections in all.

When I started this it was going to be for me, but somewhere along in the process I decided that it will be a Christmas present for Elder Son's next-door neighbor who has been so very helpful and friendly to him and to us. 

That is the good news. Now for the bad.

As the project went on... and on... and on, I started to screw up the seed stitch. One mistake every 12" or so was okay, it wasn't that noticeable, yada yada. But then the mistakes started happening more often until it was nearly impossible to ignore them.

Then I bound off. 

 
Please excuse my feeble attempt to combine the two photos.
It was impossible to get back far enough to get the entire scarf
in one shot without climbing into the laundry sink.

Yes, one end flares a bit, although perhaps not quite as much as it looks like here.

The error I want to call to your attention is at the bottom of the scarf. Each section should be ten inches (that's 25 cm for those of you counting anywhere else in the world), and each of the first five sections are, indeed, ten inches long. 

Section six and seven, not so much.

 

And then there are all those seed stitch errors. Happily, they are in the last two sections -- the ones I will have to frog and reknit.

I am not going to point them out. Just know that most of those irregularities
will not block out. Because they are seed stitch errors.. 

 

What was I thinking? I remember carefully measuring every section as I went along. Early onset Alzheimers, I guess...

Knitting from stash.

I declared, back in January 2013, that I would not buy any yarn EVER until I had knitted down my stash to a level wherein it contained only random onesie-twosie balls of yarn. Although I have not been completely faithful to that resolution, having purchased a skein of laceweight mink yarn at Yarnover 2013 and several skeins of DK to go with stash yarn and make a promised baby sweater, I feel I have done pretty well. Oh, yes, there were those 17 balls of red Gedifra wool cotton from I bought from Cara's destash to make the Fairfield sweater. But I started it immediately; the yarn never really hit the stash. As if that matters...

Otherwise, using stash yarn, I have made:

• Seven blanket squares
• Six cowls, plus one in progress
• Five hats
• Five baby bibs
• Four pairs of fingerless gloves
• Four dishcloths
• Three pairs of socks
• Two scarves
• One pair of felted clogs
• One baby sweater (mostly from stash)
• ...and a partridge in a pear tree.

In reviewing that list, I see that it is easier to knit up one- or two-skein projects than it is an entire sweaters' worth of yarn. Big surprise there, no?

My latest stash project is this:

What is it? It is this:

...which can be worn an number of ways:

   

No, your eyes are not going bad. Several of those photos are distinctly blurry; it is really hard to focus on Kid Silk Haze, aka Crack For Knitters.

Pattern: Mohair Bias Loop by Churchmouse Yarn & Teas.
Yarn: Rowan Kid Silk Haze, color 5221 Meadow; 302 yds in stash.
Needle: Knitter's Pride Bamboo US#11 circ.
Notes: The pattern calls for 350 yards, but I had only 302. To compensate, I used a needle one size larger than called for in the pattern and cast on 72 st instead of 84. The cowl is almost big enough to wear around my shoulders as shown on the Rav pattern page. Kym made this cowl a couple-four years ago, and I was fascinated by the idea that she could wear it around her shoulders. Knowing that I had about a skein and a half in the stash, I resolved I would make it... someday.

The Yarn Harlot calls KSH "crack for knitters", and I can see what she means. This stuff is light as air, soft as a kitten, and knits up into a delightfully warm garment. When I started the cowl, I was a bit skeptical about knitting with a yarn roughly the same diameter as [thin] sewing thread. But I got used to it -- even Kitchenering the stitches together at the end went smoothly! -- and I love the finished product.

What did you knit on your road trip, Kat™?

I started the Ann Arbor/New York trip with:

• a second sock OTN:
• the linen stitch scarf OTN:
• a cake of yarn for a second cowl like this one.

In a fit of unbridled optimism I also brought along the Fairfield sweater, which had been in time out for a week or two due to its sleeves nasty state of not having enough stitches at the beginning of the armhole shaping. And I also brought along yarn for another pair of socks -- just in case of being stranded on a desert island.

I arrived home with a finished pair of socks (just in time; the trip lasted longer than I had packed for and I wore these socks IMMEDIATELY), a finished linen stitch scarf, a finished cowl, and a good start on a third cowl, using the yarn I had brought along for socks.

The finished socks:

 

Oh, dear. Let's play a rousing game of "Find The Dropped Stitch", shall we?

Must fix.

Yarn: Lang Jawolle Color Superwash, color 8288, about 1.5 skeins, acquired in a destash from Lorette. Contrasting heels and toes are some unknown superwash contributed when I begged for sock yarn for my afghan.
Pattern: Plain vanilla, using, as always, Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern; 60 st.
Needles: Knitters Pride Karbonz circs. Feet, US#0; legs, US#1.5. 

 

The linen stitch scarf, unblocked:

Remember how I mentioned that two-stitch patterns give me fits? Here is the linen stitch scarf with visible errors highlighted. You can be sure there are other oddities hidden in the folds. I am relying on the trotting galloping horse theory of errors.

 

Yarns: Lang Jawolle Superwash Solids, oxford gray (83.0003) and light gray (83.0085); Marks & Kattens Fame Trend, color 662.
Pattern: Linen Stitch Scarf by Matthew Hesson-McGinnes. There are any number of patterns for this scarf. I picked this one because 1, it didn't have fringe, and B, it was free.
Needle: Knit Picks Options Interchangeable Rainbow Wood, US#9. I think these needles had a different name when I bought them.
Notes: The pattern calls for a US#8 needle, but I preferred the fabric I got when using the US#9. Knitter's choice. Also, bigger needle = less knitting = sooner done.

 

Cowl The Second:

Yarn: Lisa Souza Sock! Merino; colorway Appaloosa. Searching the blog reveals that I never told you about this yarn. This was a special colorway being sold as an online fundraiser for an equine rescue organization. As a member of board of my local humane society AND a knitter, how could I NOT buy a skein?
Pattern: Willow Cowl.
Needle: Signature US#5.
Notes: After wearing Cowl The First so much this past winter I decided I wanted the next one to fit a bit more snugly. I did some extra decreases in the stockinette sections on this one, but I overdid it. Cowl The Second may be a little too snug for indoor wear. It will be perfect to wear instead of a scarf when the temp is <0˚F.

 

Cowl The Third:

Yarn:  Schachenmayr Nomotta Regia Linien Color.
Pattern: Willow Cowl.
Needle: Signature US#5.
Notes: I followed the pattern on this one.

Question: Why did I change my mind and make a cowl from this yarn, which had been destined to be a pair of socks? 
Answer: I was working on Cowl The Second one day on the trip when we were chatting with Smokey's cousin and her husband. She asked about my knitting. As we all know, anyone who expresses any interest in an objet d'knit is fair game. This cowl is for her. 

I did not touch the Fairfield sweater on the entire trip. It is still in time out, although I have figured out my next step.

Tomorrow we see what I started (and finished!) since we got home.

Black FO Friday.

I finished another pair of socks. Or, as I like to think of it, another skein of sock yarn bit the dust.

That weird lumpiness near the top of the socks? I pulled the socks over my leggings
to avoid drafts (temp is roughly -150˚F here). It is not caused by tumors on my legs.

Yarn: Austermann Step with Jojoba; toes and heels reinforced with Lang reinforcing thread (light blue on the left toe, light gray on the other toe and both heels; I couldn't find the blue when it was time to start the second sock).
Needles: Karbonz US#0 (feet) and Addi Turbo US#1 (legs). These came out a little tight. I need to remember to use a US#1.5 for the legs.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks.

This yarn has been marinating in the stash since ::counts on fingers and toes:: April 2007. I am glad to have used it finally. Although the socks are not exciting, they will be a wardrobe staple.

It is completely random that they came out so perfectly matchy-matchy. Usually I divide the full skein into two equal balls and [with great anal-ness] start each one at the same spot in the color repeat, but I didn't bother this time. Although the stripes are clear in the finished socks, they are much more subtle in the yarn itself. I decided not to bother trying to figure out where to start sock #2. Imagine my surprise when I held the second sock up to the first to see if it was time to start the heel -- perfect match on the stripes!

* * * * *

And now for your amusement: a baby duckling waterslide!

Update on my life, for which* I know you are all breathlessly waiting.

Last weekend I journeyed to northern Minnesota to see my BFF from high school. You have met her here before.

Perhaps this will do for the modeled shot of my Tappan Zee, too. Raveled here.

 

Kathy is a wild animal lover. Photo is Lucy, the deer she tamed.

She told me about the 4-yo mayor of Dorset, Bobby Tufts, whose story went viral. Here is the original video, where the Twin Cities CBS affiliate sent one of its anchors and the weatherman to Dorset for the fishing season opener last May. Scroll down to the second video. Smokey and I happened to see that original video on the WCCO-TV news. 

The story went viral when Bobby was re-elected as mayor (first links in previous paragraph). And because Kathy owns the Dorset General Store as well as the restaurant, and because the store is the only business in the hamlet with the word "Dorset" in its name, its phone was the one that rang when the media called -- CBS, ABC, NBC, etc. Kathy was interviewed by the NY Times (sorry, article is behind their paywall), fielded a call from a London news crew, and her husband, who manages the store, took a call from a Japanese news crew. All in all, a lot of excitement for a village of 22 ("...or 28, if the minister and family are in town").

My initial impetus to go to northern MN was a Paula Poundstone concert in Grand Rapids. Smokey didn't want to take off work to go but suggested that I go and combine the concert with a side trip to Park Rapids. He's a genius, that one!

 

* Yes, I am a grammar nerd, perhaps even a grammar Nazi.

FO Friday.

The sooper sekrit knitting project has been mailed and received and worn. Time for the reveal!

Heather had surgery last month, and I decided that I would knit her a pair of felted clogs to wear during her recovery. I happened to have her mother's email address, so she and I collaborated on the size and colors.

Prefelting, surrounded by my size 8-1/2s:

As usual, I neglected to get an FO photo -- we were rushing to pack for the trip to the North Shore -- but Jean, Heather's mom, was kind enough to send me photos of the opening.

Ooh, a package for me!?

 

I wonder what it is?

Slippers! And they fit my hand perfectly!

Ta da!

The slippers in action.

 

Wear them in good health, Heather!

FO Friday.

I finished a hat and scarf set for myself.

Color is off in this photo, but I couldn't fix it without making my desk look even more overgrown with moss than it already is. (see next two photos)

Pattern: Sideways Grande Cloche from Boutique Knits.
Mods: None except that I used a different, slightly heavier, yarn so I cast on 36 st for the body of the hat instead of 42. 
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky (100% superwash merino) in Aegean; 1 skein exactly. 
Needles: Knit Picks Options, US#10, 9, 8, and 7, as called for in the pattern. I do not understand why the designer had me use four different needle sizes, but whatever. 
 

Scarf is not blocked yet so the lacy pattern is rather...camouflaged.

Pattern: Lace Rib Scarf by Kay Gardiner. I found this one by using Ravelry's advanced pattern search -- which is wizard, btw -- to look for a scarf using bulky yarn. I avoided ribbed ones b/c they draw in  in width, and I didn't want to have to knit the scarf wider then necessary. Lazy efficient, me.
Yarn: (same as above, 2 skeins exactly)
Needles: Knit Picks US#9 because they were handy. Kay used US#10s for the same reason.

This is a more accurate portrayal of the color from the KP website:

This will be a cozy set to wear next winter when the winds howl. Color is gonna be kinda boring next to my brown coat, but whatevs.

Squared out.

I thought the deadline for the Newtown squares was March 1 so I finished up with them this week. Turns out the deadline is March 31, but I'm squared out after a dozen.

 

As you might be able to guess, the last three squares above are rather less pride-inducing than the rest. From the first of the close-ups:

• Diamond Brocade stitch from Barbara Walker vol.1  (or maybe vol. 2, I'm too lazy to go look it up). 
• Mitered squares with a centered double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, pass slipped stitches over).
• Basketweave stitch.
• Stitch pattern from Yarn Harlot's One-Row Scarf. Problem was NOT the stitch pattern; problem was that I didn't cast on enough stitches and the square is barely big enough.
• Garter stitch, complete with errors (I seem to be incapable of working garter stitch without screwing up; although I used to be able to drop back and fix a goof, when I tried that on this square it looked terrible -- worse than the error), and a mitered square worked in seed stitch. It looks terrible -- apparently seed stitch and miters do not play well together.

All worked on a US#6 using Valley Yarns superwash DK (100% superwash merino; soft and totally machine washable and dryable). ±40, depending on stitch used.

WIP (and FO) Wednesday.

Do I still knit? Why, yes, thanks for asking.

I finished a pair of socks a few weeks ago.

Yarn: Regia Galaxy Color, purchased at Camas Creek Yarn in Kalispell MT when we went to Glacier National Park a couple years ago. When I saw the yarn in the ball I thought it was going to make striped socks that would coordinate with my multicolor striped raglan. These will be fine even without the stripes. I alternated between the two balls to minimize pooling.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock
Needles: US#0. Normally I do the foot on zeros and switch to US#1s when I get just past the ankle, but I forgot. They still fit.

I picked up the Tappan Zee sweater again; it has been quietly snoozing in its bag for a year. For those of you who care but don't remember it, it is a top-down cap sleeve sweater. I had reached the armholes and knit one front a couple inches past that. When I picked it up I discovered that actually, I had knit both fronts to the point where they were ready to be rejoined, so all I had to do was knit the back to that point, join all three parts, and knit away mindlessly until it is long enough or I run out of yarn. Yes, I am knitting as fast as possible in order to finish before the yarn runs out. Don't we all?

(no photo -- it doesn't look significantly different than in the posts linked above, just a bigger blob of knitting)

The Christmas knitting is progressing. A Windschief hat and neck gaiter (that's what cowls were called before they became The Trendy Thing) for our renter. I knit them almost entirely during the annual two-day tax conference last month, or, as I like to think of it, the annual two-day knitting retreat with CPE credit. Here they are posing with Bubbles on my soon-to-be history first generation Maytag washer, piece of crap that it is.

Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West. Delightful pattern to knit.
Yarn: Filatura Lanarota Pure Washable Merino, from Smiley's Yarn in New York. This stuff is surprisingly pleasant considering the El Cheapo price ($2.99 per 109 yd. skein(!)). Truly machine washable, not scratchy. It is a bit splitty because it is 8- or 10-ply and not tightly spun, but with blunt Addis I had few problems. Huh.
Needles: US#6 and #7.

A tuque for Smokey's partner at work. I had no plans to make this one, but last week I was complaining to Smokey that I would be riding in a car for hours in a couple days, and I had no small portable project on the needles. Really, I was complaining, not because I was looking for a project, but mostly just to make noise. However, he said that Peter, his partner on the adolescent psyche ward night shift, was intrigued by the tuque I had made a couple years ago. So I checked my stash and found I still had just enough of the yarn to make another one.

Oh, you wanted to see it as an actual hat rather than just a blob? Okay, here ya go:

Yarn: Phildar Pure Laine 3-1/2 (apparently discontinued), DK weight, colorway 'Corsair', 3+ skeins (350 - 400 yds.).
Needles: Addi Turbo US#6.
Pattern: I got the original pattern from Dale-Harriet in Madison but couldn't find it when I looked. So I winged it.

When that is done I plan to make a pair of mittens, probably from some more of the same yarn I used for the Windschief set, for the teenage boy who has been our hired slave since last May. When one's own sons are not around the house any more, and one's disabilities make it difficult to do certain things, hiring a teenager is the perfect solution. Scotty is a great kid: reliable, cheerful, willing to learn, willing to do whatever we ask of him. When the task is partcularly disgusting, like changing the litter box, we pay extra.

Then there are the medical mittens, slumbering for years. Last spring the woman who designed them for me emailed to offer to finish them (!) She had noticed that their Ravelry status had not changed in a loooong time. For those of you who care but can't remember them either, they are for Elder Son, who was in medical school at the time. He has since finished and is now at UMich in Ann Arbor getting a master's degree in public health, epidemiology. The design has the caduceus on the backs of the mittens; I knat them up as far as the wings at the top but couldn't get that part right. She finished them and blocked them and sent them back. Yarn is Cascade Heritage sock.

 

I still have plans to make a DNA scarf of the same yarn for him. Will it get done in time for this Christmas? Probably not, although miracles DO happen...

There is a also tiny bit of stealth knitting going on, maybe for Christmas and maybe not. Someday I'll show you it. 

Summer knitting.

Note: I found this post in my draft folder, waiting for a picture of the socks. Finally took one.

At the beginning of the summer I came upon a pattern that begged to be made in profusion and sold for benefit of the local humane society, on whose board I sit.

Doggie poo bag dispensers.

Pattern here. Great fun to make and a good use of leftover sock yarn. I made 29, gave one to Matthew and Alex for Ser Percival The Energetic, and we sold...one at the county fair booth. I have hopes for better results at the September dog walk, an annual fund-raiser for the shelter.

Last winter I made myself a Noro hat that I like so well I made a scarf to match. My old Noro scarf was dark, which was fine with my old red coat but too dull with my current dark brown one. This scarf is a bit livelier.

 

The hat and scarf are gone now. A few days ago I got an email asking for something for a silent auction fundraiser for a local candidate whom I support. Not much time to knit right now, so the hat and scarf set went to a good cause. Now I'm wondering if I should recreate them or if I should move on to another scarf and hat for which I have half the yarn I need.

I made a pair of socks.

Please ignore the funny-looking ears on the toes.

Yarn: Online Supersocke Nepal found on eBay.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks.
Needles: Addi US#0 (feet) and US#1 (legs). 

And earlier this month I made baby hats for The Purple Project (or whatever it is called).

1. Valley Yarns Superwash DK in lilac;
2. ditto;
3. ditto with a stripe of Knit Picks Andean Silk; 
4. Lamb's Pride worsted in clematis; 
5. Knit Picks Andean Silk (discontinued) in hyacinth;
6. Knit Picks Swish DK in clematis heather (color discontinued);
7. ditto.

Still have two different socks OTN, frogged the cowl and need to cast on a different (easier) one for Alex. And that is what I have been knitting. (I wrote this on September 3. Alex picked out an easier pattern and it is nearly done. Photos soon.)

Knitting! (5)

While I was knitting that Montego Bay silk scarf I found myself experiencing an almost visceral urge to knit socks. Fingering weight yarn! Tiny needles! I wantwantwant! However, I mananged to keep that feeling in check until the scarf was f-i-n-a-l-l-y finished.

Definition of a scarf: a knitted object four to twelve inches wide and only as long as the knitter can maintain sanity.

Ta da!

Yarn: Lang fingering weight 80/20 wool/nylon. Most of a skein of Oxford gray (83.0003) and about half a skein of ruby red, plus about one-and-a-half spools of the gray nylon reinforcing thread that came tucked into the center of the gray skein. The heels and toes are the red fingering weight yarn with the gray reinforcing thread; the feet are the gray yarn; and the legs are both the gray and the red yarn.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#0 circ (foot and first four rows of the stripe pattern); an anonymous bamboo US#1.5 circ that I bought in a lot on eBay (legs).
Pattern: Toe up using Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern until the round before the stripes start; then a modification of the sock pattern in Knit One Below by Elise Duvekot. Her socks were knit top-down; I prefer toe-up. Details of my mods are on my Rav page.

The gauge of the knit-one-below stitch is significantly bigger than stockinette. I did some judicious decreases (trial and error, three times) to get the ankle big enought to be easy to put on but not so big as to sag, plus I used a larger needle on the leg as I always do. If you look carefully you can also see the errors in the initial rows of the pattern. I wanted to plan my stitches so that I didn't have to do the knit-one-below into a stitch that had been a decrease in the previous round and apparently that was a bit more than my brain could stand. (Note to self: If I had used pencil and paper to plot it out it would have been a lot easier.) But once I had knit two or three rows of the pattern stitch I balked at ripping it out to fix it.

You may wonder at my choice of colors that are, to put it charitably, less than exciting. Well, I have a pair of socks purchased many years ago that are light gray with red toes and heels and a stripe/ribbed pattern on the legs. For some unknown reason I have always loved them. Now they are wearing out and I wanted to replace them. When I dug into my stash of solid sock yarn I had only one skein of light gray and I didn't think that would be enough. Wrong again.

 

Knitting! (4)

Fourth: silk Montego Bay scarf.

 

Yarn: Alchemy Silk Purse, 2 skeins. DK, 100% silk single ply.
Needle: KnitPicks US#8 circ.
Pattern: Montego Bay by Amy Singer.

I originally announced that this yarn -- also souvenir yarn purchased at Knitty City last year -- was going to be a trianglular shawlette, but further thought led me to the conclusion that I would get more use from a long rectangular scarf. Several years ago I made a Montego Bay scarf that nearly drove me crazy; I simply could not keep track of the (2-stitch, 2-row!) pattern. But I wanted to conquer that pattern. I needed to conquer that pattern. And I did; this quickly became mindless knitting, so mindless that I could work on it in the evening after working on tax returns for nine or ten hours.

Have worn it multiple times, love it.

Knitting! (3)

Third: a Moebius cowl from a class on same at Yarnover, taught by the totally delightful Silvia Harding. Yummy yarn; too bad I now find the color rather insipid.

Hannibal is not sure about this. Not sure at all.

Pattern: Moebius cowl. The exact pattern is not given at the link but is simply 4 rounds of knit and 4 rounds of purl repeated until the cowl is tall enough. The whole key to making a Moebius is in the cast on, which Cat Bordi demonstrates at the link.
Needles: I think I used a US#4 circ. Either that or a #5.
Yarn: Karabella Magrite, a sport weight 80/20 superfine merino/cashmere blend. It is sooo soft and perfect for next to the skin. I bought four skeins of it in Cara's destash five or six years ago. I think I may use a couple of my skeins to make another cowl, bigger and taller.

I gave the FO to Elder Son's landlady in Duluth, a family practice resident who provided him, and a number of other med students over the years, with a lovely place to live. Smokey delivered it when he traded cars with Son, and he said she was suitably surprised and pleased.

 

 

Knitting! (2)

Second: Daybreak, last seen here. All done, love it, worn only once. Spring came rather early this year and thus ended wool-scarf-wearing season.

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West. Nearly every one of his patterns appeal to me. I love this one so much I am planning a sweater based on it.
Yarn: Most of a skein of Universal Pace sock yarn in linen (06) and half a skein of Marks & Katten sock yarn in color 662.
Needle: Signature circ US#4. 
Mods: The original pattern had the final border done in stockinette interspersed with single rows of garter stitch. It seemed to me that that border might be prone to flip up so I did it entirely in garter, and I quite like the way it turned out.

Daybreak does not always come as scheduled.

Once I finished knitting the sweater for Ser Percival The Energetic and the sweater for Melissa's baby and and the Calorimetry for Jocelyn and fingerless mitts and hat and scarf for Alex and the hat for Matthew, I can finally get back to knitting for me me Me! (Never mind that Noro hat I made for myself last month.)

The project for me was Stephen West's Daybreak (photo cheerfully snatched from Ravelry), which had been long in the planning stages.

The pattern was well-written and nearly mindless -- as always, my favorite kind of knitting. I was closing in on the last section when I noticed something.

Can you see it? Probably not. Let's take another look.

Still no? 

A hint -- let me give you it.

The increases should all have been done to the right of that line of slipped stitches. Apparently I got a little confused as to which side of that particular column was right and which was left, resulting in a wonky column of slipped stitches.

Having had some recent success in dropping back and fixing things, I decided to attempt that here. After all, if others can drop back and fix a miscrossed cable, surely I ought to be able to fix a few misplaced increases, right? Right.

The dropping back part was easy, as was fixing the slipped stitches.

The rest was not difficult, but it looked like crap.

This is fingering weight yarn on US#4 needles. Had it been on #1s or #2s I might have been able to make it look okay, but the loose gauge -- necessary to make the scarf drape nicely -- was impossible for me to duplicate neatly with a crochet hook. Would blocking have fixed it? Maybe, but I didn't want to take a chance.

I frogged back to the little brass safety pin and reknit that 4 inches. And gave a sigh of relief.

Here is how it looks today:

A bit later, still sopping wet.

Blocking (please to admire the nice straight columns of slipped stitches):

Someday, a modeled shot...