Sock Madness

Yes, actual knitting content! I signed up for Sock Madness II because I wanted the patterns. My competitive nature surfaced, and I have been knitting furiously. Round one was Zombie Socks:

(Koigu KPPPM in some number purple - details in Ravelry or on request.) I liked these - relatively easy knit, I like the fit, the yarn worked well, etc.

Round Two? Different story. I present Reversai:

Opal Cotton in 1972. These, I don't like. Some of the reasons are my fault - the yarn is a bad color choice, because it totally obscures the patterning and my gauge is most likely too loose (originally I was using Koigu, but it pooled horribly, and the shop I was at has a limited [but lovely!] selection, and this was the best of the current options). The reversible nature of the pattern doesn't thrill me, mostly because a heel, sole and toe done in garter in the round killed my wrists. It's also a round toe, which I don't like because I have a mostly straight-across set of toes. But, they're done, and if they don't fit Mom, they might just fit Dad.

So, the next couple of days will be knitting free (thankfully, I've got a crochet project on the go which can fill in the gap). Reading has started for the Once Upon a Time challenge (I needed to finish up Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen and then the new Linda Fairstein came into the local library, so I knocked that off in a couple of days). I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, so there should be a review in a few days.

ETA - for the sake of posterity, here are the sources of the quotes in the previous post:
1. Enchanted
2. Funny Face
3. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (not a terribly quotable movie, since all the dialogue is sung)
4. Heathers
5. Serenity
6. Amelie
7. Beauty and the Beast (Disney version - I also like the Cocteau version)
8. Eastern Promises
9. How to Marry a Millionaire
10. The Doom Generation

Rising from the dead....

Clearly, I haven't felt like blogging in a very long while.

Mom: She's fine. She spent about six weeks with both wrists encased in plaster. She also "slightly cracked" her orbital bone, which meant numerous trips to specialists to make sure nothing needed to be done except to let it heal on her own. It was not a fun six weeks - the first four weeks, she couldn't do anything (well, she figured out how to get cherries and potato chips from the bowl to her mouth pretty damned quick.) This meant that I now REALLY know that (a) I am not cut out for the caring professions and (b) nurses/nurse's aides work damned hard for their money. Although they don't have to deal with non-handicapped stalls. She went to her high school reunion in Missouri in October, and clearly she felt that this was not enough excitement for the year, so she totalled the "new" (it was about a year old) car. She's not sure what happened, but she ended up with bumps, bruises, a possibly suspended licence (obstructive sleep apnea may have played into the accident) and an insurance payout that will cover the new car. Whenever she and Dad get around to buying it. It has been blissfully quiet on that front.

However, there's another front which is not nearly as quiet:

Meet the new cat in the family, Rehnquist, aka Pipsqueak. He's a little grey yarn-stealing bundle of energy. Seriously - he dragged a pretty-much-full cone of Zephyr downstairs, and any yarn not secured in a drawer of some sort now resides on my closet floor, behind a wide band of double stick tape. Much as he can be a royal pain when he's in full hyper mode, he can be really sweet (which may be the only thing that saves his bacon some days).

Knitting? Lots, mostly socks. I am on Ravelry (habsgirl, of course) and most of my finished objects can be seen there. There are some that still need to be photographed. I'm doing Sock Madness again, because I'm insane and I am a free sock pattern ho. As for my summer goals, Twisted Flower - yes, Morrigan - no, lingering projects 50% (Wittering yes, although I settled for wire core clothesline; mystery project no - in fact it's now in my bed, because I pulled it out of the closet last night and Rehnquist tried to run off with it). Considering my summer, not so bad.

I'll try to be a better blogger, but I'm going with the whole "Blogging without Obligation" thing.

Randomness again.

I held off on posting the finished Mad Batik socks (from the Sock Madness tournament), so my Bloomin' Feet socks would get the viewing they so richly deserved!

I'm not terribly thrilled with these, because the fit is ... off. You'll note that the toe on the pink sock is much wider across than the black/gray one. The gauge on the foot portion is different on each, due to differing techniques - a learn-as-you-go kind of thing. I knit the black/grey sock first toe up. I knit the foot portion "normally" which led to overly-tight stranding. The pink sock was knit cuff down and the fair isle portions were knit inside out. Tricky to maneuver, but much looser stranding for me. I should have knit the heels/toes/ribbed cuffs on smaller needles, because they're loose and floppy. They will make nice house socks come winter, though.

And, just because, a meme from sprite's blog:

Just start your iPod, iTunes, or whatever music player you use, and write down the first ten tracks that come up. No cheating and skipping around until you get the cool songs.

1. Scattered, Green Day (from Nimrod)

2. L'hiver Approche, Les Cowboys Fringants (from Break syndical)

3. Employee of the Month, John Doe (from Dim Stars, Bright Sky)

4. Can't Decide, Orange 9mm (from Driver Not Included)

5. Sacrifice, Orange 9mm (from Driver Not Included)

6. Nature Springs, The Good, The Bad and The Queen (from The Good, The Bad and The Queen)

7. Eat, Eat, Eat, Bowser & Blue (from Humor for Boomers)

8. When I Fall, Barenaked Ladies (from Born on a Pirate Ship)

9. When We Two Parted, Afghan Whigs (from Gentlemen)

10. The Stars Above, Sianspheric (from Somnium)

Nearly 2500 songs on my iPod and it manages to pull two songs from the same album. (And not even my favorite Orange 9mm album - I prefer Tragic.) Go figure. A fairly representative range of music, although no classical (not that there's much there) and no big band/Gershwin. It did skip the embarrassing stuff, though. (I own all of Jacques Villeneuve's oeuvre, but that's because I'm a racing geek, not because it's good. Hilarious? Yes.)

Surfacing again

This has not been a stellar year so far for blogging. I blame it on Saturn's retrograde period. (As good as an excuse as any.)

This post will be finished objects. I promise to follow with current knitting and recent acquisitions in the very near future. (Oy, the acquisitions. Must. Stop. Shopping.)

First up, Day Two of Round Three of Sock Madness:

I was definitely out by 1 pm Thursday, and I was probably out earlier than that, but I wasn't sure who my opponent was on Flickr. I was OK with it, because I really didn't like those socks. The pattern was too wide for my feet, and the gauge given was far too loose for the Socks that Rock. I'm not a fan of cuffed socks - I find them too bulky. I might have been happier had I used the STR and the specified needles rather than the specified gauge (which goes against everything I've been taught about gauge), but I don't think I would have been happy. The yarn will wait for another pattern. Other lessons I've learned from Sock Madness is that (a) I'm a control freak (I kept thinking, "But why? I would do it [this way]." and (b) I like a VERY tightly knit sock. That said, I loved the fourth round pattern, and will be knitting it at some point in the future.

Now, some pretty pictures of the Bloomin' Feet socks:



Look - spring blossoms! (Especially incredible considering we had snow two days before that picture was taken.) My package was mailed off today, and should get there next week. I hope the recipient likes it!

Random family knitting. The now seasonally-inappropriate (knock on wood) Esther Williams Hat:

The pattern called for crochet trim, but I seem to have a very short head, and the trim would impede my vision. I have two fresh balls of Mission Falls in Raspberry to knit another one for my mother, who has a hard time finding hats that cover her forehead as she likes.

I'm back to knitting socks for Mom, since she's been neglected this year. At the end of March, my LYS finally received the long-anticipated shipment of Koigu (it was due in originally "end of October, early November). Two skeins had to come home with me:

Since I pilfered the STR that I had intended to use for Pomatomus socks for Mom, and in hopes that the Koigu would not stripe like the Lorna's Laces I used for mine, I wound up the Koigu and knit away:

Oh well. They not only striped, the stripe reversed direction on the foot. They're still cute, though.

Round 3, Day 1

Ecch. I like the yarn (Socks that Rock Lightweight) and I LOVE the color (Lapis). The pattern? Don't ask. These will be completed, then ripped out to be reknit in a more appropriate pattern/a pattern more to my taste.

Real update soon.

Round 2 complete!

(OK, I finished late Friday night as opposed to now, but I was lazy.)

That's a completed pair of Madtini socks. These kicked my ass. The cuff and leg pattern slip stitches over other stitches, and I've discovered that that kind of technique tightens my gauge significantly. Like one stitch per inch. So the cuffs are on the tight side and I had to consciously loosen up on the foot. The yarn was not the best choice for this pattern - I think a wool might cause less tension for me. I did make a note on my pattern to knit the cuff stitch and then knit the stockinette section for gauge if I knit them again.

I did advance to the next round, which makes me happy (I think.) My division seems to be either the speedy knitters or those who don't sleep, as it's been the first one done both times. We'll see how the next round goes. It calls for variegated yarn, so I think I'll pull out the Mars Quake Lisa Souza and knit Mom some socks.

Sock Madness - Round 2, Day 1

Here's my progress as of now:

Just finished turning the heel, and came to post/check that my reading of the pattern is correct. (Which it better be, because nobody's asked questions about it yet. I'm 99% sure I'm right.)

Later - gotta knit some more!

A Finishing Machine...

I finished up my Bloomin' Feet socks!

Well, mostly finished. The crappy photo is mostly there to prove that there are two complete socks. That strand of yarn floating around? Last end to be woven in. After some momentary panic when cropping the picture - Ohmigod, the socks don't match! War! Panic! Mushrooms! - a bit of experimenting determined that they are the same size, but one had been on my foot and the other hadn't, meaning one was slightly wider and shorter. A good wash will fix that. So, when I can find a blooming spring plant (or, if necessary, abscond with an African violet), proper photos will be taken. The weather just needs to make up its mind first.

You might notice a new entry in the Finished Items column - the Esther Williams Hat (scroll down to the third entry). I printed this out a long time ago, and finally knit it. It's a speedy knit - I cast on yesterday afternoon while websurfing, took it to band practice, and finished it up this evening. No photos yet - I'm waiting for daylight. I'm going to skip the crochet trim, because I seem to have an abnormally shaped head and it's already just past my eyebrows. The crochet trim would probably block my vision!

So, what's up next? Round 2 of Sock Madness. The new pattern calls for a sport weight yarn. I finally found one that I loved - Angora Valley Fibers Monarch, especially the Field of Dreams. Problem? I found it on Saturday. There isn't a snowball's chance in Hades that it could have made it here in time. (One of my Zip DVDs took a week to get here from Calgary.) So, it was either stash dive or buy some Briggs and Little. Exfoliating as the B&L would have been, I turned up something I hope will work in the stash:

That would be some ... well-aged Esprit Print from Elann in Summer Sky. You may have seen it in such projects as my first-ever socks (the ones that were two different sizes) or my fishnet stockings. I got gauge, and if I run short, I'll just have obnoxiously mis-matched toes (I'll probably use the leftover Fourth of July I used for my Broadripples.) A couple of other people are looking at using it, so I won't be the only one in trouble if it doesn't work. The pattern is to be released tomorrow evening, so I'll find out then how this goes.

And, I succumbed to the siren song of Elann last week. Usually, I wait until late afternoon, at which point, the colors I want of a given yarn are long gone. Not so much with this:

Seven skeins of Rowan Pure Wool in Ultra Marine. It will become Cambridge, a RYC pattern currently available free from the Victoria and Albert Museum website. I've been wearing one of my Ribby Shells as a vest and really liking it. So, more vests in my future!

Owwwww.

My wrists hurt. Yet another reason I wouldn't want to knit for pay. But I did finish the first pair of socks for Sock Madness:

(Yeah, I know there's holes at the ankles. I prefer the Sherman heel for short-row heels, because it's much easier to compensate. But, I had to use the heel in the pattern. I did my best, but it wasn't quite enough.)

Now, off to shower (what? - it's not like I went anywhere!) and watch "Rent." And rest my wrists. Back to Bloomin' Feet later in the week.

Sock Madness Starts Here

Day One's progress:

I may do another repeat or so before going to sleep. Emphasis on the "may." I did finish the first Bloomin' Feet sock, but will wait until daylight to take pictures.

Sock Madness - Round One Prep

I have my yarn ready for the first round sock:

That's Lang JaWoll Cotton in a deep slate grey and Elann Essential 4-ply in bright pink. I've had the Elann for several years, and I picked the Lang up at my LYS last week to pair with it for the bi-colored socks. The designer recommends a variegated and a solid, but the LYS doesn't offer much in the way of variegateds, and mostly stocks 100g skeins, which is way more than I need. The Lang was an orphan skein the sale area - for $5, I got yarn that I think will work and didn't have to feel bad about causing dyelot havoc for others (one of the reasons the store went to 100g putups - one skein, one pair of socks.) I think I've seen the sock (Googling on the weekend turned up one that was easy for the early rounds, and bicolored. I tried Googling again yesterday, but couldn't find the link again.) but won't spoil it for others. I'll probably use the other pink skein (since I bought two with plans to knit socks for me out of them) and try one of the mosaic patterns out of Sensational Knitted Socks.

I hope to finish the first Bloomin' Feet sock tonight or tomorrow, and will cast on the second after I finish the first round Sock Madness socks. (The joys of scheduling!)

Yet another post about socks.

Another pair of socks completed:

Simply Lovely Lace Socks from last spring's IK. (I bought this spring's IK, but that' a topic for a different time.) I like these socks, although I will wait until it's a little warmer to wear them. They're an easy knit, not entirely mindless but not really complex. I did lengthen the leg by about 1.5 inches, and switched to an eye of partridge heel, which I find much denser than straight slip-stitch heels. Here's a closeup of the pattern stitch:


And I signed up for Sock Madness, so there will be even more sock posts in my future. I don't expect to win - I'm really just in it for the patterns. I will do my best in the competition, but I really see myself as a mid-major - depending on matchup and game day performance, I may surprise myself and go far, or just make it through a round or two. Plus, I hope to bust some of my stash - which isn't huge in comparison to many, but could still use a little editing.