Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Finished Brother Socks!

Yesterday, while home sick, I finished the pair of socks I was making for my brother. It's a good thing he doesn't read the blog, so I can freely tell you about them. Note: This is Christmas present number one done!

I've made a Christmas present policy --- If it isn't finished (or damn close to it (like a toe needs to be finished or something)), by December 1st, then it will not be a valid Christmas gift. Period. No Christmas knitting stress. It occurs to me that I may experience some anxiety leading up to Dec. 1st though.

Back to the sock at hand---

Actually, I think he might suspect they're for him. After some debate about the foot being too long on the first one, I had him try it on. Obviously, it was to long which is why I showed you how I shortened it.
Specs:

Cast on 72 stitches
Needles: 2.75mm Crystal Palace Bamboo dpns. (Warning! 2.75mm needles with a 72 st cast on make for a VERY wide sock!!). I would cast on probably 10 sts fewer in the future for a better fit. My bro doesn't have small feet either.

Yarn: Indigo Moon Superwash Sock in Forest Green. Very squishy. Very Pretty. Very expensive. (Not worth the price in my books. I'd be able to get a skein and a half of STR for the same price.) Don't get me wrong, it's very nice, but very pricey for the variegated. Very pricey.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Lotus Blossom Tank Begins (Again) ....

It never ceases to amaze me how much is learned when knitting. Take the Lotus Blossom Tank from the Summer 2006 Interweave Knits. I attempted this tank when the magazine came out, and knit and frogged the first two pattern repeats three times. I decided to give it another try yesterday, and I'm having no problems at all. It shows that exposure to lace helps with all lace, not just the specific patterns you have worked on. I just think that's the coolest thing!I'm hoping to get lots more done on it this week.I've managed to come down with a nasty sinus infection, and a worked all day yesterday minus one hour, and I was hoping to be better today, but I still feel like total crap, so I'm home today. I feel really bad though, because I'm way behind on a couple of things (because I was pulled off them to work on something else), and I'm taking next week off for a vacation. Stu and I are going to head up to the cabin with the cats for the week. Needless to say, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are going to be really busy for me.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Red Sock, Green Sock....Well, Just Green Sock...

The hubby and I headed up to the family summer cabin on Friday and stayed for the weekend. The weather was just awful, but it allowed for lots of knitting by the fire.

I've been working on a pair of green socks for my brother. Unfortunately, the first one is gigantic, and needed to be ripped down an inch.

Here's my process---

1. Mark where you want the sock ripped down to (those split ring stitch markers are great for this).

2. Grab a needle or set of needles (I used a circ) that's a few sizes smaller than the original one used. I used a 2.75 to knit the sock, so I went down to a 2mm to pick up the stitches. Pick up one loop of each stitch on the first side of the sock, then flip the sock and use the other needle to pick up the stitches on the other side of the sock.


Here's what it'll look like---


3. Once both of the needles are in, rip back the part that needs to be ripped, and enjoy your handiwork! Oh, and don't forget to ya know--re-knit the toe. Hehe.

This experience will likely cause you great anxiety for the first couple of times, but becomes very freeing.

PS. I'm taking a week's vacation after another week of work, and I have a huge amount of knitting planned! I'm excited about taking a break from life and focusing on knitting, catching up on podcasts, and doing some fishing and swimming.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sometimes Life Makes You Cry...

My work life is a disaster. It makes me want to get in the car and flee the country. But I might get a promotion, so I have to stay. I'm at the point where I don't want anything more to do with the company.

I just want to run away.

Monday, July 09, 2007

There Is A Bird On The Deck...

... And it's driving me absolutely nuts! It will not shut up. It's taunting the cats. All I hear is "Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!" followed my "Meow, Meow, Murrrhhhhh!" UGH! I just want some peace and quiet.

I can't close the sliding door to the deck because it's 30 degrees out and quite humid, so our south facing apartment is roasting.

I am writing here as an alternative to wringing that G-D bird's neck!

Thank you for listening. You can pat yourself on the back for helping save a bird.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Christmas In July! And Booties!

I had an awesomely relaxing day yesterday where I did very little. I sat on the deck with a bowl of cherries and an iPod full of knitting podcasts. By midday it had clouded over a bit, so it wasn't even in direct sun. Here's my great little spot---I don't know why, but my first thought upon awakening this morning was of Christmas. Oddly enough, it was about Christmas knitting.

I was not going to do any Christmas knitting this year, because it always ends up being a huge stressful panic in December.

Unfortunately, I think I'll be putting myself through the Christmas knitting torture again this year, because there are a few gifts that I would really like to knit. I'm going to attempt to be well prepared and start on my Christmas knitting really early.

No laughing, but I'd also really like to knit Redd a sweater. Hey, he gets cold.

Anyhoo... I made a pair of Saartje's Booties on Friday night after work. They turned out super cute, but I've yet to find buttons that are suitable.

I figure that since every time I turn around another person I know is expecting, it would be wise to have a pair of booties on hand.

Friday, July 06, 2007

T.G.I. F(inito)!

It's been a very long week (many hours of overtime). The weather has finally been summer like, but it's been so humid that it's difficult to knit.


Last night, I finished off my Kamloops Wildflowers Socks!I'm really happy with how they turned out. They're quite tall, and really comfy (although trying them on with the weather like this is torture).
Being outside at 6:45am seems to be the only somewhat sane modeling time.

Pattern: My own (cast on 64 sts, knit til you think the leg is long enough, standard heel flap and turn, decrease gusset sts until it fits your foot, make long enough, decrease for toe).

I used Regia 4 Color (exact specs can be found in my first post about these socks a couple of weeks ago). This yarn knits up really nicely on 2.5mm needles.

I used some metal dpns that I found at the yarn store in Kamloops because a set of four was only $3.25 or so. I usually use bamboo, and it takes a heck of a lot of knitting to wear a hole in my finger. With the metal ones, it only took about 45 minutes of knitting, before my finger was showing significant wear.

Monday, July 02, 2007

I Didn't Quite Make It...

For the first time in this round of Sock A Month I didn't finish a pair of sock for an entire month. I'm close, but not done.

(Sorry for the absolutely dreadful picture)

Right now the heel is turned and I'm about an inch down the foot of the second sock. Oh well, this way I'll definitely have a pair finished for July!

The last couple of days has been spent working on my car. A huge thanks to my dad and Stu, who spent an entire holiday weekend Saturday and a good chunk of Sunday replacing the ball joints and tie rod ends. That repair was really the only thing wrong with the car. The shop wanted $1400 for it, but we were able to do it for about $150. It's amazing how little things cost when you don't pay for labor. Actually, my dad has requested payment in the form of a Cowichan sweater. I think he'll get it too.

Poor Stu, after the big replacement job above, I hijacked him and took him to Future Shop to get some more car stereo equipment. We were working on it until 11:30pm, but I now have the perfect system.

The car is exactly how I want it.

You know what that means? Knitting can resume at it's normal pace.

Happy Canada Day and an early Happy Fourth of July to my American friends!