First peeps of spring...

...are on my needles.  While I was traveling, I started a pair of vanilla top down socks to keep me busy in the airports. This is Juliespins in the colorway "Peepers." 

It was calling to me from the bins to be knit right now.  We had rain for a two weeks and the sunshine has arrived.  Everything is starting to get that first jolt of chartreuse green as it buds.

Pallisades

The Pallisades socks are done!  They're the second pair of socks I've completed on the sock machine.  My 'sock recipe' is still not perfect, but I'm getting there and these were ten times easier to complete than the Summer Moss ones.

I ended up using close to 225 yards of The Plucky Knitter's MCN Fingering (wonderful to work with) - which is a lot less yarn that I would have used if I had knit these by hand.  A few things I've learned:

1. Tension.  It is a lot different on the machine.  Normally, I am a tight/very tight hand knitter.  With the machine, it forces me to rethink the tension.  I set the vcam higher on this pair, which made the stitches slightly smaller, and therefore changed my gauge a bit.  They are still a bit too loose but not much.
2. Loose stitches on heels and toes.  Although you can't see it in the photos too much, the stitches near the heels and toes are a bit loose when I am increasing.  I've watched a few YouTube videos and I have some tricks up my sleeve for the next pair.
3. Weights.  On the machine, you keep the stitches on the needle by attaching weights to the sock in progress to keep them from riding up on the needles.  When I ordered weights, I ordered a set of three for the heel when I really think I need a set of 4 to keep weight more evenly distributed across all of the live, working stitches.  One more weight is currently on the way, and when it arrives, I think I'll try another pair then.

It's been a learning experience and I think I still have a bit more to go...

Giving it another go

I'm giving the sock machine another go today. 

<insert deep breath here>

<practice patience too>

From the deep stash, I found The Plucky Knitter 80/10/10 MCN blend sock yarn in the colorway Pallisades.  The base has been discontinued, but considering this skein has been residing with me since July 2010, it is time to put it to good use.

First Attempt

May I present the Summer Moss socks:

 

...my first pair of socks made with the Auto Knitter circular sock machine!  I may finally have the perfect excuse to buy self striping yarn.  I loved working on them, but they are not the prettiest pair of socks that I have ever knit.  See what I mean:

 

I was warned that there is a learning curve, and there most definitely is.  I struggled a bit with the ribber.  Once it is attached, you can't view the sock down the center or anywhere except the stitches that are currently being knit.  I dropped a few stitches (see photographic evidence above) and had a difficult time getting the sock back in shape.  I'm going to call this a learning experience, so it doesn't bother me too much and you can't really view the goofs from a little farther away. 

 

Moral of the story?  I think I'll need more practice but I don't think I did too badly for my first attempt.

Secret knitting

Since a few of my Christmas gift recipients read the blog, I had to keep a few knitted objects secret.  And since you know that I didn't start my holiday knitting early in July, I enlisted some help with socks this year:

Check those out!  Don't they look lovely?  Five pairs of socks out of Cascade Heritage sock for family and close friends.  These colorways were loving picked out by me, but knit on an antique sock machine of a friend.  Since they are handmade, I think they count.

A hat for my friend K's fiancee - he's knit worthy guy!

 

A woven dish towel experiment for my mom which turned out okay.  Next time, I might try experimenting with different cotton and possibly a different reed size.

Ahead of time

I'm finished!  The melted crayon socks came off of the needles last night during a viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 2.  I'm glad that I tried a new yarn company (Cakewalk Yarns) for our Etsy KAL.  I liked the way that the yarn worked up and being high twist, I imagine that the socks will be around for the long haul.  Standard 64 stitch cast on and I knit the ribbing the whole way down the sock in lieu of a more complicated pattern.

287 more yards completed towards my 12,000 yards in 2012 goal.  I will catch up on the last week of the sky scarf and probably select something new to knit this weekend.

...and these counted as my October Personal Sock Club socks.  They're done and ahead of time makes it even better.  I have 6 days ahead of unscheduled knitting time.  Perhaps a hat.

Don't put crayons in a dryer...

...because if you did, they would look a lot like the yarn that I am using for my Etsy KAL with some friends.  A few of us decided to patronize small Etsy shops and knit projects using a yarn that we were previously unfamiliar with.

My yarn comes from Cakewalk Yarns over on Etsy.  I love the way that it is working up.  Reminds me of melted crayons...and paint splatters....perhaps I'm just being nostalgic for all of those childhood crafts...

Scottish Thistle Socks

A little late, but I finally finished my June personal sock club socks.  These are in Spirit Trail Fiberworks in the Helen base, colorway Scottish Thistle.  I picked mine up at The Loopy Ewe.  

Cast on 64, size 2 needles for nice, thick sport weight socks.  I used 107 of the 150 grams, for a total of 310 yards.  I think these might become my new boot socks.

Back to knitting the Shaelyn shawl tonight...

Bright Holidays....

...or what you get when you knit up brilliant, almost phosphorescent, sock yarn.  On Saturday, I went over to a friend's house to continue learning about circular sock machines.  I took a variety of yarns with me, but settled on a skein of self striping from The Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling 2011 goodie bag.  The base is Lorna's Laces, and it was a test run for a self striping line.  The colors are bright - and not normally my cup of tea, but hey, it's summer and I felt like stepping out of the comfort zone.

After much ado, including re-skeining the whole skein after I had it jump off on the heel of the first sock, we managed to get a completed sock.  You start knitting at the top, work your way down and separate for a heel just like you would a regular top-down sock. 

When you finish the heel, you come back and add the rest of the top of foot stitches back into the rotation to complete the foot portion.  The toe is essentially another heel. 

Remove the waste yarn, pick up the live stitches and graft the two ends together to finish off the sock.  They used 76 grams of the 100 grams skein, so there is a little extra to go along with the second skein I have.  (More socks? scarf? knitted stripped garland?)  Either way, I have another new pair of socks to work with when the weather starts to get chilly.

PS - Doesn't the color remind you of holiday lights?

Tiny socks

Finished the baby socks to match the hat that I finished last week.  They only used 14 grams of yarn and fit in the palm of my hand.  They will be dropped in the mail this week and off to my cousin's family.  Another Ravellenic Games project completed!

First project across the finish line...

I finished the baby hat decreases last night and blocked it out.  Definitely a good project for using up leftover sock yarn because it only took 17 grams of fingering weight yarn.  The pattern came from the Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders book and it is the Shibui Baby Hat and Socks (rav link). It helped me complete the Hat Dash and Baby Dressage events for the Ravellenic Games.  I'm onto the socks now.  After knitting adult size ones for years, these are a breeze!

I thought I would check in on my 2012 knit/crochet/weaving goals.  I've made a bit more progress, but I'm still halfway to the yardage goal of 12,000 yards in 2012.  As of today, it stands at 5,546 yards completed and 6,454 yards remaining.  I think I might need to weave a few things....

Scottish Thistle Socks

I have been slowly working on the Scottish Thistle Socks.  They were my June personal sock club challenge that I didn't finish in time.  Frankly, it has been too hot and we're in for another week of 100+ weather. 

I tried a pattern....

...and failed.  I tried the Jaywalker pattern with this yarn and it did not work.  So, I ripped it back. 

I think it just wants to be plain vanilla socks anyways...and my June personal sock club socks.

Eye Candy Friday: Handspun French Lilacs Socks

Eye Candy Friday: Poppy Socks

Poppy Socks.  Yarn: Sundara Sock.

Sea Dreams & Scottish Thistle

It feels good to get back to my self imposed/personal sock club for the month.  I missed it while I worked on the Adeline blanket.  The Sea Dreams socks are complete and on time - very squishy and soft.  Of all of the superwash merino yarns I have worked with, this one ranks up there on the best softness feel.  I wonder if it has to do with the way the yarn is spun?  Either way, fabulous socks. 
Vital stats:
Yarn: Claudia's Handpainted Fingering
Colorway: Sea Dreams
Needles: US 1
CO 64, 5" leg, 7.5" before toe

Next up: Scottish Thistle.  I haven't completely decided what this wants to be yet.  Socks, definitely, but I am wondering if I should stick to my plain vanilla sock recipe or try the Jaywalker pattern?

Sea Dreams, halfway

One of the Sea Dreams socks is completed and I am through the cuff on the other.  All of this means that I am a little more than halfway on my personal sock club socks for the month. 

Once they're finished, I think that I might be turning my attention to a Color Affection Shawl (rav link).  I dug through the stash the other day and came up with several options in The Plucky Knitter's Primo.

Return to Standby

To avoid knitting angst, you can place projects in time out.  If, after several attempts at time outs, things between you and your project are not working out, you can always frog it.

Case and point.  This is the remainder of the Vine Lace Vest.  I just wasn't happy with it.  I do not know if it was the pattern and yarn combination or the lack of enthusiasm on my part.  Either way, I am going to put the pattern away and I might revisit it later.

In the meantime, I started a pair of socks.   It's been a while since I did a self imposed sock club installment.  For January through April, the Adeline blanket counted towards that goal.  To relieve my knitting anguish, I chose a plain vanilla sock and Claudia's Handpainted Fingering Weight in the Sea Dreams colorway.  Very springy!

Time for tea socks

Over the weekend, I finished my tea time socks.  They worked up beautifully and turned out thicker than I expected.  They will make excellent boot socks.  The yarn was The Plucky Knitter's Superwash Merino Sport Weight in the colorway Tea Time.  I know that this skein has been around for several years and I haven't seen her offer the base recently with the addition of the Primo base she has been carrying.  I used 3.00mm needles and approximately 170 yards.

With the completion of these, it brings my 2012 yardage up to 290 yards.  That looks like such a small number - especially since my goal is 12,000 yards.  However, the blanket will be around 4,000 yards.  I added several rounds in over the weekend!

Tea time over the weekend

Over the weekend, I worked on my tea time socks. I finished the first one and I love the way the colors have turned out. It didn't really pool at all - a testament to The Plucky Knitter's dyeing skills. I've moved on to the second sock. I'm through the ribbing and onto the leg portion now.

I checked the grams remaining and I could have made the legs a little longer on each, but that's okay. These socks are the first I've knit with my new size 3.0 Signature Needles. I'm loving them - serisouyl, how did I knit socks without them before? Answer: I didn't knit as many. I've found that, for me, socks are easier to control on the Signatures and I haven't broken a single one of them (opposed to the wooden ones that I broke constantly). I've love to have these socks wrapped up before the weekend.

And then...back to the blanket!