Socktober Sundays - Sock Needle Woes

Sorry for being a day late.  Yesterday was hectic. I am blaming the fact that I don't have a completed sock yet on my needles.  

I was happily knitting on my sock with my Knitter's Pride size 1 (2.25mm) sock needles, after I realized that size 1.5 (2.5mm) was too big. then the yarn stopped gliding.  It actually got snagged by the needle.  I was devastated.  I'm sure I just received a bad batch, and Jimmy Beans Wool has a great broken sock needle replacement program.  So, i just have to actually send the thing.  But the worst part is......waiting.  

So, my impatient self bought a pair of bamboo needles as a quick fix to keep my sock mojo going.  There is a notions store a few blocks from my job that sells these.  They are a quick fix when I am pressed for time and can't make it to Purl Soho or Knitty City. 

I made some progress during my commute.  Enough to try them on at work.  Haha.

However, I didn't realize until after the fact that these needles were 7 inches, and my original needles were 5.  I felt like I was going to poke my eye out.  

Then someone in my knitting group asked what we thought about 9 inch circulars.  Ding ding ding!!!  I had a pair at home for years, and never used them.  It turns out that they were the size I needed.  

So, I transferred them to my project on Saturday morning.  

I took the train to 34th Street and back, to spend some time with my best friend, having lunch and shopping. 

Here is my progress when I got back.  Notice how the sock on the left fits perfectly, and the sock on the right is just a little too loose.  So, I need to do that one over. 

Time to insert the afterthought rip cord.

And this is where my sock stands as of now.  I am contemplating how I will do the heel.  

So, I decided that the heel will come from the outside of the second ball.  I will start with the pink section, and continue until it is done.  Once that is complete, I will know where to cut the yarn from this skein for the next afterthought heel.  Then, I can measure and finally get the yardage count that I have been so desperately looking for.  And hopefully, I will have perfectly matching socks that use up all of my yarn.   

My take on the 9 inch circulars.....I feel like I am knitting with my fingertips.  I have to hold the needles a bit differently.  I could be knitpicky and complain about it, or be happy with all this progress I made.  I choose to be happy.  I do have my eyes on a pair of 32" Chiaogoo circulars for future projects though. But i'm not rushing to get to the store to buy them today.  

I may not finish my knitting in time for Socktober, but Operation Sock Drawer is still underway.  These socks will not be made in vain.  

The Official Rhinebeck Wrap-Up

You all must be wondering if I made my sweater in time for Rhinebeck.  Yes, I did.  here is a little backstory.  

On Thursday night, my sweater was here. 

I had started the button band, and was at the point of doing the button holes and then 3 more rows before binding off.  

Friday morning, I decided to bind off using the tubular bindoff.  The buttonband used a whole skein of yarn, and I had just enough to put on the needle and bind off. I bound off for 2 hours before I had to leave for work.  

So, I knitted the remaining sleeve decreases on my way to work.  The sleeves were here by the time I got to work.  

I super-power knitted during my lunch break and left work with about 24 rows to go before getting to the ribbing.

This is where I was at about 1AM. 

I kept telling myself, I can last on 2 hours of sleep.  I finished the buttonband bindoff after I completed the sleeve.  I looked at the time and it was 4:49 AM.  I swear that tubular bindoff is a time warp.  But it looks amazing on the finished project. 

I had to hustle to sew the buttons, and had just enough time to hop in the shower and get my stuff together so that I could make it to the bus on time.  

And of course, I took a selfie as I was heading out the door.  The lighting isn't so good, but I was just proud of actually finishing.  

My actual Rhinebeck experience was all a blur. 

We got there.....I spend all of my budgeted cash on Miss Babs yarn......I walked around......hugged lots of people......kissed babies......saw tons of sweaters I want to make......found a Grandpa Cardigan Twin......Fondled yarn......bought another yarn kit that I have been drooling for a long time.......sipped wine......talked to more people about their handknits.....took my tired behind back to the bus.  

I managed to get a few photos of the fun time.

My Grandpa Cardigan Twin CassyTom on Ravelry.  It was so nice meeting her.  She knit hers in Mosaic Moon yarn.

My dear friend CreativeCeci who also did the Joji Fall KAL with me. Here is her Tourist sweater in Fuschia Malabrigo yarn.  

Ceci graciously took a picture of the back of my sweater for me.  

The beautiful baby I kissed, wearing the hat I made for him.  He had fun tugging at my curls. Haha!  So adorable. 

His brother wearing the other hat I knitted.  Too cute! 

And last, but not least.....my Rhinebeck Haul.

MISS BABS 

Yowza, Whatta Skein Worsted in Oyster.  This will become a scarf for me.  I'm also trying to find a slouchy hat pattern, so I can make it with a second skein. 

Cosmic Fingering in Across the Universe.  It will become socks.  Just not sure which sock pattern yet. 

Tarte Fingering in Fireball.  This is for my mom, whose favorite color in the whole wide world is orange. She saw a pair of Monkey socks, and fell in love with them.  So, these will be Monkey Socks.  

Tarte Fingering in BFF.  These will be socks for me, but I haven't found a pattern yet.  

A Soakbox kit in Grape Gatsby.  This is EVERYTHING all in one.  A cute pedi and sweet smelling soak wash. 

And a closeup of the mini skeins that I acquired from Gynxyarns and Miss Babs. They look perfect for a sock yarn blanket. 

My favorite is the sparkly orange yarn.  Glitz Sock Mini Skein in Pumpkin Spice.  That's sure to be my next purchase.

So, that's my Rhinebeck Wrap-up.  I have been trying to catch up on sleep ever since.  WIP WEDNESDAY will return next week.  I can finally get back to the projects that I put on hold for the sweater.  Whew!  Operation Sock Drawer and Socktober are still in full effect.  

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! 

WIP Wednesday - Sweaters, Scarves and Socks

This week, I have made some progress on my Grandpa Cardigan.  I spent a few days dreading picking up the stitches for the sleeve. I decided that this just needs to be done, or else I just have a vest.  I picked up the sleeves, and started working the short rows.  Then, I realized..... this is a pretty cool way of constructing the sleeve.  

Currently, I am at a point of having a few more rows of back and forth wraps and turns.  Then, I start to work the sleeves in the round and extend the length of it.  I am a bit worried about having enough yarn.  I have 1 new skein currently on the sleeve, 1 skein reserved for the next sleeve, and another skein that is about 10% used.  After completing this sleeve, I will decide if I need to order another skein.  I still have to knit the buttonband / collar.  I have heard that it eats up a lot of yarn.  Yikes.  

Here is my progress so far.

I need to finish this sweater by the 18th for Rhinebeck.  I also have a new project that I have started.  A scarf.  I know I'm crazy.  LOL.  And the scarf is slated to be completed by the 18th as well.  The scarf is for a friend who picked the pattern and the yarn.  He requested an ombré colorway, and liked blue and purple.

So, I ordered Schoppel Wolle Reggae Ombré yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool.  I ordered it on Friday, and it arrived at my door on Monday. Woohoo!!!  

I started knitting last night, and completed about 10 inches. 

The intended recipient loves it.  However, we decided to order more skeins of yarn.  Initially, I ordered 4 skeins, for a scarf that is 8 x 70 inches.  My gauge is a little tight, and I decided to make the scarf 9 inches wide in order to make the scarf warmer.  I refuse to knit a skinny scarf for a man.  He is also a few inches over 6 feet tall, which means the minimum should be 70 inches.  5 skeins should bring me to 69 inches at this gauge, but 6 skeins creates a scarf about 82 inches in length.  I think that will be perfect.  And, now I have free shipping from JBW, so that's even better.

Speaking of shipping from yarn companies..... The Loopy Ewe is awesome.  I ordered this yarn on Saturday morning, and it got delivered on Monday.  Whoa!!!  

I have been having an obsession with self striping sock yarn, and I just had to get my hands on some.  I went to the Loopy Ewe website, and realized that I had a credit for $15.  Woohoo!!!!  

I ordered Biscotte & Cie Felix self striping yarn in Gazania B.  Bright pink, yellow, and purple.  I can't wait to see how it knits up. I plan on doing toe up socks with and afterthought heel.  Socktober, here I come.  

I also received some Knitter's Pride sock needles from my Jimmy Beans Wool order.  I'm so happy with my needles.

Startitis is tempting me to cast on, but I really need to finish this sweater.