A New WIP This Wednesday

During the last post, I had a plan for a sock, but no idea what yarn I was going to choose. Thankfully, between Instagram, my Knatural Purls knitting group, and my mom, we were able to pick a color. 

Cloudy Sunrise by Peepaloofields. You can check out her yarns on Etsy.

So, I started (without a gauge swatch) and I assumed that because her other sock yarn that I used was fluffy, and called for 56 sts on my size 1 needles, this must be the same. 

I casted on. 

I got home after work like "yeah, I got this".

Then, I tried it on and the heel flap wasn't long enough, and it was too tight. I just ripped it out. Didn't cry about it. I just pulled the needles out because I knew it was inevitable. 

So, I started again with 64 stitches, and that made the difference. The heel flap was wide enough, and everything was right in the world.  

I traveled to Citi Field on Sunday to enjoy Stitch N Pitch, and I couldn't find my Mets T Shirt, so I wore this instead. 

KNITTING IS SEXY. If you didn't know, now you know.

So, through sweating profusely, trying to drink anything I could get my hands on, running from a crazy out of nowhere thunderstorm, and wiping down wet seats to see the end of the game ..... I managed to turn my heel. 

I chilled with Ladybean73 who knits so she doesn't choke people. 

I also ran into Amy who runs the blog www.thestitchinmommy.com. 

The last time I saw her was during her wedding, before she became a mommy. It was a-freaking-mazing to see her again. We made plans for me to come over and hug the babies. Of course there will be knitting and crochet involved as well. She loves, loves, loves crocheting.  

So, I worked on the gusset on the train ride home. My Mekamika neon heart stitch marker decided that it wanted to join the Rose City Rollers party. 

I am currently on the long stretch to get to the toe. 

The best part is, it fits!!! Yaaaaay!!! 

Decisions, Decisions

I have come to realize that Stash Dash is totally not happening. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but it's summertime and It's very difficult knitting in this heat. So, on to my next big thing.......

STITCH N PITCH

I will be returning to Citi Field this coming Sunday.  A baseball game cannot rightfully be enjoyed without some startitis action.  So, here is my plan. 

I am jumping on the Rose City Rollers bandwagon. I have already downloaded the pattern from Ravelry. It's a free pattern. Woot woot!  It's a rolled cuff sock that is worked from the cuff to the toe. A few rows in, and you start the heel flap.  Once the heel is done, it's smooth sailing to the toe, which will be Kitchener stitched closed.  Easy Peasy!!! 

So, what's the hard part???  Picking yarn.  I have come to the point where I have so much yarn, that I'm getting paralyzed picking a color.  Yikes!!! I have narrowed it down to 5 choices, and posted it on Instagram to get votes from lovely knitters. 

Here are the contenders. 

1 - Haute Knit Yarn - Simple Sock - Bright Summers Day - Superwash Merino/Nylon

2 - MadelineTosh - Tosh Sock - Holi Festival - Superwash Merino

3 - Dragonfly Fibers - Djinni - Ode to Sock Summit - Merino/Cashmere/Nylon

4 - Miss Babs - Tarte - B.F.F. (Babette) - Superwash Merino/Nylon/Tencel

5 - Peepaloofields - Superwash Sock - Cloudy Sunrise - Superwash Merino

I respect all of these dyers so much for their amazing work. The colors are exquisitely beautiful. 

I will know at 9 am who the instagrammers choice is.  

Now, off to find sock needles. 

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Socks on a Plane!!!!!

These socks have been on quite an adventure.

I saw this beautiful yarn on Instagram one morning. A knitting friend of mine had just purchased it and took a picture. I immediately asked her where I could get it.

The answer was SpunRightRound's Etsy shop. Lately, I have been buying tons of yarn on Etsy. I believe that it's very important to support our knitter friends who own small businesses, because at the heart of it all, they are putting their time and effort into their work because they really love what they do. I am also very empowered when I see a woman successfully running a business on her own terms. It just so happens that the majority of indie yarn shops are run by women. So, it was a no brainier. 

I showed the picture to my Knatural Purls knitting group, who is always my sounding board when I have any knitting idea. I think I clicked "buy" before waiting on an answer. A few days later, the yarn had arrived from Rochester, NY. 

The colorway is FLUFF. I noticed that there is a definite similarity between this yarn and 2 other speckle-dyed yarns that I own. But, of course I had to have all of them. 

So, a friend of mine invited me to go to Toronto, in the middle of the winter, to attend a Machel Montano concert. Of course I said yes. Toronto was really cold, but his performances are always blazing hot. On the trip, I needed some plane knitting and that's when it hit me. SOCKS ON A PLANE 

The pattern is designed by Laura Linneman aka Lala Knits. It's a free pattern on Ravelry. Toe up with a cable going up the outer edge of the front of each foot. The heel is just a gusset and turn. No heel flap. No picking up stitches. This was a new heel construction for me, so I had to try it. 

I casted this on in February for my 60 Minute Sockagram Ravelry group. 

This pic is actually in the hotel room while we were just enjoying some nice beverages. Hehe. 

After all of the festivities, I finally got a picture of the socks actually on a plane.

So, fast forward to the month of May. I had already had 1 sock completed, and I just needed to work on the heel of the second.  

During Maryland Sheep and Wool, I told everyone who introduced themselves about 60 Minute Sockagram. Then I'm like Oh gosh, I need to finish those socks.

It didn't help that my friend Ladybean73 knit hers in a day. Geez!!  Making me look bad. Lol. 

So, I worked on completing the sock, and here is my finished product.

I have 9 grams of yarn left over.

Here is my sockagram video of the Socks on a Plane journey.  

 

 

 

2015 - The Year of the Sock

As the beginning of the New Year makes its way into our lives, we start to think about all of the hopes we have for the future.  The countless items that we want to knit are just calling us from their pattern booklets and magazines.  The yarn that wants to get knit up into that oh-so-special-something is saying "Pick me, Pick me".  I have deided that this year, I am going to get serious about socks and I want you to as well.

I have more skeins of sock yarn than I can count.  1 bin of old sock yarn packed away in the closet, 1 bin of sock WIPs, 1 bin of socks to start now, and another bin of newly acquired sock yarn.  Sock yarn isn't stash, right?  Well, that's  the problem there in itself.  I have more socks in skein form than in completed sock form.  This year, that is going to change.

I usually run into a pattern of knitting only 1 thing for a little while, then putting it down and picking up something else.  Things get pushed to the front of the line if there is an upcoming event and I MUST finish that sweater. Otherwise, projects are languishing and I knit what I feel like.  So, what would happen if I devoted at least 1 hour a day entirely to a pair of socks? Well, they would definitely be completed and my feet would be nice and toasty.  

Let me introduce you to my novel idea.

It's called 60 MINUTE SOCKAGRAM

The instructions are quite simple.

Pick any yarn and any pattern (knit or crochet)

Cast on.

Set a timer for 60 minutes.

Knit for those 60 minutes and take a picture of your project.

Knit for another 60 minutes and take another picture.

Keep repeating those steps until the socks are complete.

Compile all of these pictures into a Flipagram post.

Post the competed project on Instagram and hashtag it #60minsockagram.

Here is the first 60 Minute Sockagram that I made.  

The yarn is Voolenvine Yarns "Deck the Halls"

The pattern is Zigzagular Socks by Susie White

 Here are some of my favorite photos from my project

You can find the Ravelry group here, if you would like to join in on the fun. 

Socktober Sunday - Week 1

On Saturday, I spent hours knitting the sleeve of my Grandpa Cardigan.  I needed a bit of a change for the day.

I decided to take a stab at completing socks for SOCKTOBER!!!!  Today was the last official day that I wore a  pair of sandals.  They are these cute open-toe booties.  As I dreaded the thought of putting them away, I began to realize that pretty soon I will need winter boots, and I have no socks.  EEEEEK!  

I have countless skeins of sock yarn.  Enough where I have sock yarn split into 2 skeins, and just waiting to be cast on. Here are some of them.

And.......I may even have a few more skeins tucked away in the OTHER bin, that hasn't been split yet.  

So, why do I have no socks???

I figured it out.  I got all happy when I learned the magic loop 2 at a time technique.  I get all excited, work the socks to the heel turn / gusset, and then Boom!  I stop.  Something weird happens with the counts.  It's like front sock 1, front sock 2, back sock 2, back sock 1.  But when you are doing k2tog  between the backs and the fronts, things get all crazy.  So, it took me about 3 pairs of socks getting stuck somewhere at the heel turn to recognize this flaw.  Silly me should have heel turned 1 at a time, but .... I digress.  

So, here is an example of one sock.

I casted on this sock on July 26, 2009.  The yarn is Araucania Ranco Multy in Pink, and it was given to me by one of my really sweet knitting friends whose Ravelry ID is Carmelnap.  It was a birthday gift, and I was so excited that she gave me this gorgeous pink yarn.  The pattern is Kai-Mei from Cookie A.'s Sock Innovation book.  

For some reason, I got stuck at the gusset.  I have decided to separate the socks, and knit the pattern to complete it.  Now, I just need to figure out where exactly I am in the pattern.  

That is another one of my personal knitting "problems" that I am trying to fix.  I get lost in a pattern, am apprehensive about ripping back, and then I just put it to the side and do the inevitable.  Cast on another project, promising myself that this one will be better.  I will take notes this time.  I will follow it graciously and have a nice completed something in the end. 

So, yeah.  I'm guilty.  I kinda just did that about an hour ago.

I purchased this yarn from The Loopy Ewe about a week ago.  Biscotte & Cie Felix Self Striping Yarn in "Gazania B". 

Gazania is actually a flowering plant native to Southern Africa.  Here is a picture for color reference.

So, the yarn spoke to me and said "I want to be a pair of Toe-Up Afterthought Heel Socks".

So, in my knitting drunkeness (because I had to be drunk off of the yarn fumes to cast on another sock while there was a perfectly pink sock begging for attention) I wound it into a skein.

It's soooooo pretty!!!  

Then, to take a step further, I split the skein so that they were even in weight (53g), and I cut it so that both skeins started with the same color.  Yes, I am a little bit picky about having matchy-matchy socks. 

I casted on 20 stitches, using the Long-Tail Cast On and alternating it between two needles.  This is the cast on that I have done over 200 times for my hexipuffs.  I can do it in my sleep. 

I am using my new 5 inch Knitters Pride needles.  They take a bit of getting used to.  They are so little that I feel like they will snap at any minute.  So, I am being extra careful with them.  Maybe I should have gone with the 6 inch ones.  I was worried that my stitches were going to fall off of the needle after I finished my increases.  But, after putting the stitches on 4 needles, that worry went away.

So, here is the sock that I started.

I am going to call it "Révolté" for 2 reasons.

1. The yarn is made in Saint-Bruno, Quebec.

2. This is the "rebel" project, because although I should be knitting other things..... I am going against all that and knitting away.  

This will become my travel project, because all of my other projects are too big to travel with now.  

I am hoping for 2 things.

1. Beautiful self striping patterns

2. No second sock syndrome.  

Happy Knitting Everyone! 

My knitting Weekend/early week

This past Saturday was the SisterFriends Harlem Knittaque in St. Nicholas park. We had a blast. However, I don't remember getting much knitting done, because I was STUFFING MY FACE SO MUCH!!! Ian, those ribs were soooooo delicious.

Honestly, I did try to knit... for real. See?? This is where I left off Saturday Night.
Then the unthinkable happened. I found two sections of the crossed rib that were not crossed. I got so upset that I ripped it out. After casting on again about 3 times later, I finally got it crossed perfectly. Then, I felt the fabric, and figured that it felt way too loose. So I ripped it again....to cast on with a size 7 needle. This is totally not good. This is like the US gymnast whose only event was the uneven bars because of her ankle injury, and she fell off. How am I supposed to finish this sweater???

The next day, I went to the Flatbush SNB, and I made progress. Maybe it happened because I didn't have that grill tempting me every 2 seconds, or the fact that I had a nice Chocolate Chai latte, or the fact that KJ was sitting across from me and just smiling with her sweet face. Who knows, but in either case.... I made some progress, and have progressed to the Raglan shaping portion of the pattern.

Here are some more pics from the weekend.

Chante showing off her shrug.
I get some sweetface time.

Happy Mommy (Tawana) gets in some knitting time.KJ getting some Pinkberry time. Yes, we are getting her addicted from an early age. 6 months and already a pinkberry fiend.

Here is my Ravelympics Progress as of today.

Sweater Sprint - and yes, I did make myself a pair of Ravelympics 2008 Stitch Markers

Sock Put
I know, I know. I've got a long way to go.

Just Checking In

I have not been enthusiatic about posting, because I still don't have a camera. ARRRGGGHHH!!!
Well, at least I found one that I like. I just have not had the time to go to the store to actually test it out. It is Sunday, the Lord's day of rest, and where am I?? At WORK. Well, I had to do it so that I could get next Friday off in order to relax for my drive up to Rhinebeck. I am so excited.

Onto the knitting news.....Here is my status report.

My stash has dramatically decreases because I gifted some of my yarn to my Mom's Godmother, who is about 80 years old. She crochets wraps for childern in her church. I took the big bin over to her house, and told her to dig in. She has limited mobility, so the fact that she was able to have yarn hand-delivered to her house made her very excited. I will do the percentage calculations later. Chances are, I have added as much as I have given away, since June. And, with Rhinebeck being less than 7 days away... who knows what will happen.

Secret of the Stole.
I am on Row 53 of hint #1. I just can't seem to find the right mixture of quiet, not being on a bouncing bus, phone not ringing time to work on it. I don't want to have beads spilling all over the place either. Hint #2 has been downloaded and is waiting in the wings. I am still excited about this project. Hopefully I will find some time before the end of the week to make some progress.
Central Park Hoodie #1
I bound off the buttonband with an I-cord bindoff, and it looks great. I seamed the right sleeve and side seam. I tried it on, and then I realize that my ribbing wasn't lining up properly on the sleeve or the side seam. Also, the center of the sleeve was not lining up with the shoulder seam. So, i decided to rip it out. I will make the sleeves into 2 separate tubes, then join them to the body. I already completed the left sleeve, and it is gorgeous.
Embossed Leaves Sock
The cuff of side number one has about 8 rows to go before I start working on the heel. I like this pattern.
Central Park Hoodie #2
I casted this on while I was going home on the bus on Either Wednesday or Thursday (can't remember, it is a blur now). Currently, it is my travel project, until it gets too big. I had some time to work on it yesterday, because I went to get a part replaced on my car and I had to wait 1 1/2 hours for them complete it. If I didn't have my knitting, I would have went bananas!! I decided to make it all in one piece, since the seams annoyed me so much on the first CPH. I am currently on the second cable cross row, which is about 6 inches into the pattern. In Trinidad we have a saying that goes " when it's nice, do it twice". The second time around is so much better.
Snuggle Sweater
She is relaxing in my closet. I have gotten near the end of the second 48-row pattern repeat. She is sitting nicely, and patiently waiting for my love.

All other projects are on the back burner until further notice.

Favorite Socks - Embossed leaves (part 1)

I just wanted to post pictures of my new travel knitting project. Once again, sorry for the unclear photo. My budget has not allowed me to replace the dead camera yet. I am still trying to hold off on the credit card usage. So, we are still using the camera phone.

One day last week, I decided to go through all of my loose pennies, and take them to the Coinstar machine. I received an Amazon gift certificate for $29.37. So, I decided to treat myself with my newfound "wealth" to some books. One of which was Interweave's Favorite Socks. Here is my progress on the Embossed leaves pattern, using Colinette Jitterbug yarn (from my stash) in the Marble colorway, and Knitpicks Options size 1 circular needles. This is about 2 16-row pattern repeats into the pattern. They are coming out very nice. The pattern is easy to follow, and it is knitting up quickly.

I also bought Knit2Together, and Fitted Knits. I should be joining the Fitted Knits KAL once I decide which cute sweater I want to make first. I joined the Favorite Socks KAL, but am still waiting for my sign-up verification email.

Also, I wanted to show off some stitch markers that I made for my swapbot partner Deb, now that she has finally received them.

I am so glad that she is really enjoying them. Deb is a professional chef, as you can see on her blog, so I thought it was fitting that her stitch markers reflect that with the utensils attached. The others are just some smaller ones I made to use for her socks, since she belongs to many sock yarn clubs. I know that they will come in handy.

You Can't Hurry Love...No You Just Have to Wait!

My falling In Love socks are complete. Finally!!! It took a visit to the doctor, and being in the waiting room FOREVER to get these babies done.

No more teasing DEB!!!

Time for show and tell.
Let me also add, that I just showed them off to Mommy, and her remark was "GET A LIFE!!!" Well, at least I'm not on drugs!!! She is just pissed that I will be going to Rhinebeck the weekend that she wanted me to help her decorate a wedding. Hey, I had my Rhinebeck plans before the couple set the date. Whatever!!! Hello??? Whose life is this? You can't get mad at people for doing whatever they want to do. So, Rhinebeck here I come. I need some more yarn, and I want some Ice Wine too.
Hmmm.. I guess that means no shawl for Mommy this winter. Oh well, more time for me to make sweaters.


Speaking of Sweaters, here is my update on the Snuggle sweater.
I have also set a deadline for the Central Park Hoodie. It was really cold today (60 degrees in August) and I wished I could have just put it on..but it's kinda hard to do that when it is in pieces. So, it will be blocked before the weekend, I promise. I need it for the Rhinebeck trip. September is around the corner, and then October will be here before you know it.