Last but not least...

Grandpa Socks.
Project: Silvers Two Toe-Up Socks on one Circular Needle

Used: Size 5 60" Circular. Yarn was Wool Ease Worsted in Dark Grey.

Details: I used the pattern as written until I reached the leg. Then I took a pattern idea from Getting Started Knitting Socks By Ann Budd. She recommended a Twisted Rib Pattern which I did for the whole leg, as you can see on the left. To finish, I did the sewn bind off. I did it a little tight on one of the socks but I was still able to get it on so I'm confident that my Grandpa will be able to as well.

The yarn and the bigger size needles made this a fast knit. The sock is thick and seems perfectly comfortable and just right for a grandpa. :)

So now we are caught up on all the past socks. Next time I'll show you the dishcloths I've made this year.

Our next float features....

The Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

Project: Child's French Sock

Used: size 2 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN's. Paton's Stretch Sock in Taffy colorway.

Details: Other than changing the needle size I made very few mods to pattern as written. The mods made were mainly just to keep the size suggested. Therefore, I did 10 repeats on leg instead of 11 and 9 repeats instead of 10 on the foot.

I really enjoyed this sock pattern. They came out awesome and the colorway just added to the experience. These were made for my Grandma who has lived here in Tucson, AZ since the early 60's. I point that out b/c as the pic on the above left shows, the sock looks similar to a Diamondback Rattlesnake skin after it is shed. I know that may sound creepy or gross to some but it is very appropriate for this region. Everyone who has seen these socks LOVE how they came out and I am very proud of that. I just hope my Grandma feels the same way.

Tomorrow will be the last sock on the (delayed) parade of socks and then we will be caught up on where I am.

Eileen

The grand-marshal of the parade of socks

For the next several days I will be posting Project Details on the socks I have finished in the last couple months. I will start with Angela's Crusoe Socks.

Project Name: Crusoe
Used: Size 2 Crystal Palace Bamboo DPN's. Knit Picks Imaginations Evil Stepmother Sock yarn.
Details: I heavily modified this pattern. I cast on 64 sts. I used Kithicknits cuff instead of the suggested. I then used the pattern as written until I got to the heel. (The cuff measured 2.5" and added 3.5" of pattern repeat.)
I used 33 sts for the heel. I took one stitch from the end of the sts held for the instep. I did 30 rows for the heel flap using a modified version of both the written pattern and the French heel with the seam from Knitting Vintage Socks book By Nancy Bush. Once I picked up the gusset I added the stitch back to the instep needle. I then knit the foot as pattern written until the foot measured 6.98". Then I changed the toe and used the French Toe also from Knitting Vintage Socks. It makes a "V" on the top of the toe. (I am not particularly fond of this toe nor do I think I am of any of the toes written in the book but we will see how that plays out on future socks.) One last mod is that I kitchnered the last 12 sts instead of pulling yarn through and cinching.
Well I hope the explanation makes sense on how I made these socks. As soon as I finished them I immediately wound the yarn and then cast on for the Nutkin socks. I have already finished the hemmed cuff but the bragging for that will be in a future post. :)

I'm back and I have socks and a new camera!

Well. It has been one crazy month. I have been so busy running errands on my days off that I couldn't find the time to blog. However I learned from the books I have been reading by the great Yarn Harlot , and have been taking my project with me. I knit while my husband gets gas or while waiting in line at the bank. You name it I've knit there. It's amazing how many rows you can get done.

On the Baudelaire front I am finished. Not without tribulations (many as they were) but done none the less. I am going to try to do project details and haven't decided exactly how I want to lay it out so this may be rough until I figure it out but here goes.

Project: Baudelaire

Used: 1 and 3/4 (approx) skeins Knit Picks Essentials in Mermaid-an Aqua Blue. I also used two size 2 circular needles. --I first tried on one circ but the cable wasn't quite long enough to not have laddering issues so after 7 times of re-casting on the toes and trying to make it work I went and bought another circular.--

Details: Toe up. Pretty easy chart pattern to remember. Very clear instructions. I learned how to make mother and grandmother increases and how to move stitches to other needle while using two circs. Both courtesy of Cat Bordhi You Tube Videos. I didn't really do any modifications other than I used the magic cast on instead of the figure eight suggested. I liked it.The tops look a little wonky but this is preblocking :)


So there you go for now. If anyone has any suggestions on what to add to project details let me know.

I really hope Dana (my sister in law) likes these socks. My husband thinks she will so that's good.

Now on to some misc pics.

Here are Corky and Emma being adorable together. If you look closely you can see where Emma has destroyed my box spring.
Here is Max doing his superman impression.




The above 3 are pics of my stepmothers Crusoe Socks. They didn't come out like I expected but I still think they are great. They are heavily modified so that is what inspired me to start doing project details. One is done and the second is on it's way. I will show them to you as soon as they are complete. (They are supposed to be done by midnight tonight to keep up with my schedule but I don't think I'll make it. Close maybe but not finished.)


And finally here are some pics of the swift Len made me. I will have to take another pic with yarn on it and maybe while attached to the ball winder as well. It has changed my life and I love my husband for doing that.

Lastly I want to acknowledge my best friend Jessie's man Jacob. He helped my pick out my brand new camera. It is a Canon Power Shot SD 790 IS. It is a great little camera. As you can see it takes pics pretty well. Now all I need to do is get to Boston so the great photo master (again that would be Jacob) could help me learn how to do more then turn on zoom and click :) Thanks Jacob for answering all my crazy questions. I really appreciate it!

Well gotta go. I think this was enough posting to make up for most of a month lost.

Eileen

100 Color Marker Packs

Well, now I know. 100 marker packs are made with 5 shades of gray for knitters. The yarn for my Monkey socks was hand painted. The first skein was great no color lapses or anything. The second skein not so much.....There are several white spots all over. I have been playing around with how to color the spots so that they "match". Hence where the mega marker pack comes in. There are so many different shades of the gray and pink-ish rose-ish options that next time I go to my cousins house I am bound to find the right colors to color in my sock. Now here is hoping that it doesn't wash off otherwise I may have to confiscate the markers I deem as appropriate for this project.

This will not be a problem because really what 7 year old (who isn't Van Gogh) will notice 2 markers missing--especially if they are in a rubber-maid type tub and not in the individual slots in the original packaging. True, I could ask but that would involve tears, bargaining, and crazy promises that will be remembered for all eternity (my step-brother states I still owe him $15,745--for all the times I was like "just let me have it or do it I'll give you $5.00"). That started when he was 8 and ended when he was 15--he is now 21. (I'm still waiting for him to take me to court :P )

Anyhoo, I will be finishing my second Child's French Sock today and will be starting on Crusoe today and begin Twinkle Toes tomorrow most likely.

Eileen

I hate being sick

Hello. I have so much to say but not enough energy. Hopefully in the next day or two I'll be back to my old self and can tell you all about the goodies I got in the mail and the progress I have made on my sock projects. Gotta go Tea kettle is whistling.

Eileen

I have a pvc swift!!!!.

Courtesy of this tutorial. http://weedeaterfarms.com/patterns/PVCSwift.pdf It is super awesome. My husband built it for me today. He is also helping me make some homemade sock blockers.

On the knitting front. I have finished my mid month dishcloth. It was a cool sampler. My first pair of toe ups are almost done. I have also started the Child's French Sock for my grandmother. They are knit with Paton's stretch yarn in Taffy color. They are coming along well.

Hopefully I can add pics soon. Especially b/c I just bought lots of yarn from Knit picks. Yea!!!!

Eileen

Computer melt down

Well my computer is out of commission for a while. So there will be no pics forthcoming until I get it fixed. However, there will still be blogging!

My Monkey's are done. I wore them today. They seem a little big which makes me a little sad. I wonder if I wash them if they will fit better. Or maybe I need to go to smaller needles. But they are not so big that I can't wear them so at least it's not a total loss. Also, it seems that after they sit a day or two they appear to be bigger than when they first came off the needles or maybe it's just my imagination.

These concerns worry me for my Christmas presents. However I am just going to keep knitting and hope that they fit normal feet better than my narrow feet and maybe a little smaller is not a bad thing since they will stretch some.

An anniversary, some mistakes, and a new beginning

Well Wednesday was the 15th anniversary of my Mom passing away, and I had put my husband in charge of keeping me busy. So first we slept in. Then went to a restaurant called Buddy's. We had an awesome fruit and cheese platter there. Then we went to Colossal Cave and were the only two on the tour. Overall it kept my busy and not too sad. So kudos to him.


When I got home that night I decided to work on my two socks on one circular. Big Mistake!!!!! I had made the heels (short row) the day before at work and they were fine but when I did the join to start the cuff I didn't like the hole in the corner and so I tried to go back but decided I wanted to do the heels over again now that I'd had a "practice run". Well I was feeling lazy and didn't want to TINK back so I slipped them off the needle and unraveled. Here are 3 reasons why that was a bad idea.

1. I didn't pay attention to where I was on each sock and couldn't get them even. I was tired and not in the right state of mind so I kept screwing up on the counting of rows.



2. I never unravel right and always end up with freaking knots in my yarn.***



3. I couldn't get the socks back on the needles in the right orientation. I put them on and took them off 5 times and just couldn't get it right. I'm such a dope.
   

So my new beginning is that I frogged all the way back, untied knots, and started over. So the pic I am presenting is just a few inches shy of where I am today. Hopefully I'll be at the place I was when I left work on Tuesday when I get to work on Saturday and I won't have to explain this to a bunch of non-knitters who won't understand why I couldn't just sew the holes closed at the end. (That is something I have done in the past but I'm pretty sure I can do it without holes if I pay more attention and apply the right tension.)

So now on to pics.

Everyone who has seen my socks in this beginner state thinks they look like the beginning of a bikini LOL!

Isn't my Monkey so pretty? I am on the 3rd repeat of the second sock right now. Should be done by next week if all goes according to plan.

Eileen

***Any suggestions on unraveling properly would be greatly appreciated. :)

Yea me!

Happy Blogoversary to me!!!!!!

Eileen

Two socks on one circular

Am I nuts? Apparently, but it is going smoothly after 3 tries at casting on. I am using worsted weight wool-ease on size 5 needles which according to Silver should make size 10.5 socks. That will work for my grandpa. I have been knitting for about 2 hours and have already gotten the toe increases done and am now working on the body. It is an interesting process, and I am nervous and cautious, but Silver has never led me wrong before. I am super excited to be starting on these socks. I also bought some more yarn to make another pair of socks once I am done with the Monkey socks.

Speaking of Monkey.....I am done with the first sock and can I say it fits like a glove ... er a sock... either way I LOVE it. As I said on the 5 min voice mail I left for you Jessie, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the yarn you got me for Christmas, and thanks for suggesting the Monkey pattern it was a superb choice. It is beautiful and I can't wait to get the second one done so I can wear them and show them off to everyone.

Pics to come hopefully if I can get them to look good.

Eileen

Monkey Modification

Well it looks like some changes had to be on my socks. My heel flap, while knitted as written, seemed humongous length wise and also width wise. So after the pics I took last night I frogged back to the start of the heel flap. I decided to knit only 20 rows and I decreased to 16 sts on needle 1 and 4. I kept that decrease after picking up the gusset (which went much smoother this time yea!) and the fit is perfect. I like the original size along the leg, I guess my feet are just extra narrow. I'll keep on trucking on these but I need to hurry up and get these done so I can start on the next pairs. I'll probably have 2 or 3 going at a time once I get more yarn and needles.

Eileen

PS GO GATORS NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gusset pickup issues

So, the last sock I made didn't have gusset pick up b/c I did a short row heel and toe. The gusset pick-up was fussy at first but after a couple tries it seemed to work out all right. Again my pics are not great but they are what they are. I think I need a better camera b/c this one has been dropped too many times and the pics just don't come out right. Also my asscat Corky just chewed right through my freaking sock yarn so now I have to do a join to continue the rest of the foot. See evidence below.

Here is the proof of my cat being a bad bad boy.

Eileen

Monkey see....monkey do?

So I took my friend Jessie's advice and decided to make the Monkey socks from Knitty 2006. They are going well so far. I took some pics of the awesome yarn she gave me for Christmas and then the progress of the socks. I also took a better pic of the dishcloth.

Now I am off to the grind at AA.
Eileen

First FO 2009

So here is the first finished object of 2009 the end of the month dishcloth for Dec 2008. It is from my dishcloth KAL.

Also here are the socks I knit for Len a couple months ago.

My flash sucks but it's almost Midnight so it's the best I could do at the last minute.

Eileen

Happy New Year...2008 in review

Well it is 2009 and I am ready to blog again. Here is what happened last year while I was gone.

• I passed probation at American Airlines


• I knit an Alphabet Blanket, 2 shawls, some socks, some scarfs, a neck cowl and several dishcloths.


• I started an aran blanket, worked more on my lace shawl, started and ended (without finishing) a horribly written pattern for thigh highs, and learned several new knitting techniques.
  

This year I plan on making socks for my entire fam for Christmas. If I calculated right that is 28 pairs give or take a few. Am I crazy? Apparently so, but I feel I am up to the challenge. I just need to get everyone's shoe size.

Here are pics of some of my projects. I'll post more as I get them.

More tomorrow.

Eileen