Eleven Stitches

A Bit of Sewing

I have a lot of ideas for different bags I want to sew.  Unfortunately, I don't seem to find time to actually sit at my sewing machine.  This weekend I finally squeezed in an hour and made a tiny little bag that was sorely needed.

In case you might not have noticed, I knit a lot of socks.  I like to have a bunch of sock needles with me whenever I travel (which is a lot, recently). Although I do have cases for my straight and circular needles, I've been carrying around my DPNs in this.

Notice the saftey pin on the top?  That's to keep the needles from falling out.  There's so many stuffed in there that the top keeps gapping open.  Yeah, charming.

So I made this.

Much better!  And it has room for even more needles, if i were to need that.  I actually started taking pictures to make a tutorial on how to make this, but I didn't plan far enough ahead with the actual design of the bag.  When I sewed the opening shut (in the process of making a buttonhole), I gave up the picture taking. I'll have to get back to you on that one!  Unless you want to  make an entire bag, screw it up, and then cannibalize the screwed-up bag to make a second good one...

Oh, well.  It worked for me.

Finished, Frogged, and Forging Ahead

1. I finished another sock!  This one got done without mentioning it on my blog. I cast on for this immediately after finishing my Lombard Street sock, and knit for most of the plane ride back to New Jersey.

Pattern: Snicket Socks from Magknits
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs, size 2
Yarn: Sundara Sportweight, Charcoal over Cotton Candy
Time to Knit: May 21 - 26
Modifications: I only did two repeats before the heel because I was worried about running out of yarn. My sock weights 4 grams less than the remaining yarn, so I should be fine.  I also carried the purl stitches down into the toe-- the toe seems too abrupt on the original for me.

I tried out the recommended short row heel.  I'm just not as good at these heels. They always have holes, and I dropped a stitch in the process.  Oh, well.  I'm not going to let it bother me now that it's fixed up and done!

This brings my single sock count up to seven!

2. I cast on yesterday for a new sock, Friday Harbour from Knitting on the Road. I've had a plan for this pattern for awhile now.  I really liked what Diana did with her Birds of Paradise yarn in a lacy pattern, and I wanted to imitate her.

As you can see, the colors are blending together perfectly-- no pooling or striping going on here!  Unfortunately, this doesn't even come close to fitting over my heel.  I'm so disappointed!  I could try adding stitches to the pattern (I don't want to go up a needle size because I'm already using a 2), but I'm afraid that would mess up the lovely color mixing that I have going on.  So for now, it's going back to the basket.

3. I started a different sock instead. I wound up my red Brooks Farm Acero, and I got started on Evening Stockings from Knitting Vintage Socks.  I'm modifying it, of course! I don't want an almost-knee sock, so I'll casting on with a fewer number of stitches and skipping the decreases. 

Eye Candy Friday - Water Lily Edition

David and I had a chance to visit the Conservatory of Flowers while we in San Francisco.  I took a lot of pictures. When I was looking through them this morning, I realized that I had enough of the water lilies to make a post just about them. 

Have a good weekend!

Six of One

I'm not someone who does well with jet lag.  My fiance can travel to Australia and not have a problem (I'm not joking), but I have trouble coming back from California.  I'm so tired.  I'm glad that another long weekend is coming up, and that I'll get to spend it at home!

The rest of my trip to San Francisco was fun.  We both participated in the Bay To Breakers.  David ran it, and he placed in the top 200.  I walked it with my friend A and we placed in the top 20,000 (or so).  I didn't take pictures-- you're welcome :)  There were some people in some crazy, inventive costumes to be sure. There were also people in crazy, not-inventive, not-costumes. It was sometimes best to just keep your eyes at shoulder level.

Here's a picture I can show you!

Pattern: Lombard Street Socks from Magknits
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs, size 2 (leg) and size 1 (foot)
Yarn: Tess Designer Yarn in Pale Green
Time to Knit: May 16 - 21
Modifications: I went down a needle size when I got to the foot.  I might have been able to get away with doing the whole sock on 1's, but I started with 2's and I didn't want to rip back and try again.  I like the way this works. I also lengthened the heel flap and modified the toe slightly to end at the right spot.

I finished the Lombard Street Sock while still in California airspace.  I did have to knit very fast on the plane to get it done in time.  I really love the way this sock fits.  The pattern itself was nice and fun to knit, but seeing the sock on my foot is really what makes me love it.

This brings my single sock count up to six!  I think I have a few more left in me before I'm done with my self-imposed craze.  I'll be returning from Indiana a week from Sunday (we're leaving a week from tomorrow), and I want to see how many socks I can get done by then. This will extend my single-sockedness a little bit into June, but I'm totally OK with that!

I'm waaay behind on responding to e-mails.  I'm very sorry for being a slacker about this.  I'm working on it!

Seven Random Things

Brenda tagged me for my very first meme! 

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

The seven random facts:

1. I've figured out that my engagement ring makes my fingers tingle if I knit for a long time with it on.  Now when I knit, I move it over to my right hand and don't have any problems.  Because of this, I'm equally comfortable now wearing my ring on my left and right hands.

2. With the exception of juiced iced tea, I avoid caffeine as much as possible.  A Coke at lunch will sometimes keep me up at night. I don't need coffee in the morning, and even a half-caf will make me feel jumpy and weird.

3. I broke my neck when I was 17 in a freak accident on a moonwalk (inflatable bouncy thing). It was the same vertebrae that Christopher Reeve broke.  I try not to think about this too much because it really freaks me out how differently my life could have been

4. My first memory was on my second birthday (although I don't remember that it was my birthday-- my parents told me that).  I was eating ice cream and I asked my dad for more, which he found funny.  Alfred Adler thought you could learn a lot from someone by knowing their earliest memory. It makes me smile when I wonder what he would think of mine.

5. You know that Friends episode where Monica finds out that her dog didn't actually go live on a farm?  When I was a kid, my family did have a dog that went to live on a farm.  No, I'm serious.  I asked my parents very soberly about this a few years ago, and they reminded me that we even went to visit Sparky once in her new home.  Sometimes, it's the truth.

6. I was the nerdy really smart kid in school. The one who always ruined the grading curve and didn't know how to fix her her hair.  I'm so glad that as an adult these things are true: a) being smart is cool b) most people respect you for who you are c) I now know how to style my hair.

7. I learned how to play the piano when I was six, and I took serious lessons until I was 16.  I was really good.  My brother was even better than me, and he's now getting his PhD in Piano Performance. I haven't really played in 12 years, and I don't really miss it. I'm much more of a visual person than and audio one.

As for tagging-- I'm calling out Ariel, Tanya, Nova, Jessica, Tiennie, Christine and Sacha. Whew, that was a lot of links!

Seven things about my trip to San Francisco so far:

1. Our flight arrived 35 minutes early.

2. I started a Lombard Street Sock in honor of my weekend locale.  The yarn color?  Green of course.

3. I got to use one of these today. I would not object to having this opportunity again.

4. David's mother makes an awesome blackberry pie.

5.  She also knits.  It was nice to have someone else knitting while we were all sitting and talking.

6. I was planning to start the Lombard socks on the plane, but I forgot to print out the pattern at work. I managed to get my old laptop up and running to print it out at home (Vista and my printer don't play nice), but it seems that the only working color left on my printer was yellow.  And then that color ran out halfway through the pattern.

7. I love this city.  We're planning to live here someday.

Decision Deferred

Wow, that was a lot of opinions!  Thanks!  The voting turned out to be pretty close... as of 10:10 Wednesday evening, this was what I had:

A: 12
B: 11
C:  3
D: 10

So I can eliminate C, I suppose :)  I really liked the idea of making something of my own design for my Pal, so I started planning on working A or B.  A was slightly more popular (and B got some votes because they were afraid A was too variegated), so my plan was to knit the cuff in the dark yarn, try out the Sherbet yarn with it, and if that didn't work I could rip back and switch to the Posey yarn instead.

As I was working on the cuff, I noticed that my fingers felt.... sticky.  The yarn was so highly saturated with color that it was turning my fingers black! It was not very pleasant to knit in this manner, and I would hate to do all of that colorwork only to have the dark bleed onto the bright. So I'm deferring the final decision on my Sockapalooza sock until I can wash that yarn.

Instead, I'm going to be taking these to San Francisco!

The top is Socks that Rock in Mystic Kelp, left is Sundara sport weight in Charcoal over Cotton Candy, right is Tess Sock Yarn in pale green.  It should be fun!

I Need Your Opinion

I had all of these plans for my Sockapalooooza sock.  My sock pal wanted something wild and outrageous. I had an idea for a pattern that I was excited about, but alas, it did not work.  It didn't look nearly as cool as it did in my head, and it also fit kind of wonky.

Since my original idea involved two colors, I turned next to a colorwork pattern.  I came up with a chart that I like a lot.

I started working out this pattern, and it didn't work with my original colors.  See?  It could be OK at times, but when the color variation was too close, it got pretty murky.

So I see several choices here.

There are the colorwork choices.  I can use the chart above with one of the yarn combinations below.

Options A and B

I could do something with the Sherbet yarn (this is outrageous all on its own) in a interesting "variegated friendly" sock pattern.

Option C

Or I could use this yarn to make the Cookie A. Twisted Flower pattern.  This is an electric pink. The hottest hot pink I've ever seen.  Outrageous?

Option D

So what do you think?  Option A, B, C, or D?  I'd really, really like your input.  Making socks for other people has me a little worried... I want to make something she will like.  I'm leaving for San Francisco in two days, and I have to figure out what to pack soon!

A Pair of Socks

Did I throw you off with that title?  Don't worry, I'm still on my single sock craze.  I just have two singles to show you!

Pattern: Dahlia Socks by Sundara Murphy
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn in Dahlia (Petals Collection for April)
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs size 1
Time to Knit: May 7 - May 12
Modifications: I Kitchenered the toe instead of drawing the last few stitches up in a knot.  That's it!

This was a gorgeous yarn and a beautiful pattern.  My favorite Petals Collection combination so far!  The only problem I had was the heel flap was just a little bit too short, so the sock is slightly tight at the top of my instep.  Not enough to rip out and redo, though!  I'll probably make the second sock have a longer flap.

Pattern: Spiral Boot Socks by Veronik Avery (IK Summer 2007)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Silkie in Walking on the Wild Tide (Rockin' Sock Club for April)
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs size 2
Time to Knit: May 6 - May 13
Modifications: Plenty!  This pattern was written to be knee socks.  I did spend some time considering this, as a lot of my fellow Rockin' Sock Club members were making Grasshopper Knee Highs.  In the end, I wanted a normal sized sock.  I had to change the top a little bit-- the decorative knitting and stitches were based on an 8-stitch repeat, and I was starting out with a 6-stitch repeat.  This is what I did:

1. On the first decorative stitch round, I replaced the "knit 2'"s with "knit 1's.
2. I had to change the cuff chart to work with 6 stitches.  I  couldn't modify the original and have it work out correctly, so I just used one in the "spirit" of the original.

3.  I then just used the Ankle Spiral Pattern for 6 inches, and began the leg.  I increased the heel flap by 4 rows (I am learning some things as I go along), and I also descreased down to 28 sole stitches.

I love the way this sock fits.  I think it's a great pattern to use with this particular yarn-- it allows me to show off all of the gorgeous colors and still show off the stitch work. The pattern was very nice, too. I thought it was very clever to shift the sock around on the needles so that the pattern is simplified. It made it one of those easy "knit while talking" or 'knit while watching Lost" socks!

My single sock count is now five!  The next sock is on the needles-- it's one I'm designing for my Sockapalooooza Sock Pal.  I'll have pictures for you soon!

Eye Candy Friday

Scenes from the inside and outside of my very nice hotel on the Boston Harbor.

Have a good weekend.

Another Single

I finished another single sock while I was in Maryland!

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Sundara sock yarn in Cherry Blossom
Needles: Susan Bates DPNs size 1
Time to Knit: May 2 - May 6

I really like how the brown showed up in this sock.  It looks like a vine twisting around my ankle. Very appropriate for a leafy pattern in cherry blossom yarn!

This brings my count of single socks to three.  I've got two more started.  One is an easily memorized pattern, and I need to look at a chart for the other one.  It's good to have one of each type!

This is the beginning of a heavily modified Uptown Boot Sock (Interweave Knits, Summer 07). I'm planning for it to be normal sock height (not knee high), and that required mods from the very beginning. I'll post all of my changes if the sock works out!  The yarn is STR Silkie in Walking on the Wild Tide.  It's the yarn from the April sock club shipment.

This is the yarn and pattern from the Petals Collection April shipment.  So far, I'm knitting it exactly as written!  I'm loving it :)

I'm on my way to Boston this afternoon, and I'm hoping to be able to knit while I'm traveling.  Look out for some more finished single socks soon!