The Knitter May Safely Knit

Hello friends. I am in a much better knitting mood than when we last talked about my knitted socks. Last time, all my socks decided to mutiny. After several weeks of battle and many more rippings, I now have two pairs of socks that are willing to be worn. First off, my Sheep May Safely Graze socks now have brand new heels.

 The previous heels wore out after wearing the socks twice. After repairing them, they didn't even survive another day out. New heels were needed.

I ended up using two sets of circular needles to get the job done. The new heels were knit out of Baah La Jolla! in the La Perla color way. I'm happy to have these socks back in my sock drawer.

The other pair of socks that has finally decided to behave are my Concrete and Tulip socks. 

Yay!

I really appreciate everyone on instagram who gave me great advice on how to keep my socks up. I chose to rip back the socks past the ribbing, reknit everything in stockinette, then add some new yarn (Anzula Squishy) for the hem. I ran out of grey as well, so I used Anzula Squishy in Charcoal to turn the hem and Anzula Squishy in Boysenberry to make the insides more cheerful. The Charcoal was used again for sewing the hem down.

It was tough figuring out what elastic to use. Did you know that there are a bunch of different kinds? I didn't. After stretching just about every type and size, I selected a 3/4 inch braided (not knit or woven) elastic in black to get the job done. To test out how tight I might need it, I cut a length, safety pinned it together, then put it over the sock and wore it around. I even went on an hour walk like this, every once in awhile pulling my pant leg up to adjust the elastic. I felt a little dorky when people passed by as I was safety pinning away. To get though it, I pretended to be a designer for a high end fashion house. 

I also need to give credit where credit is due. Tech Knitting's articles on creating a hem with elastic and how to sew a hem down were invaluable for finishing these socks. 

After all these knitting successes, I am feeling quite good about my next set of knits. Connor and I even finished a project each, but I'll save that for another day.

Sock Mutiny

This post was supposed to be a success story. A story about how even though my socks had been acting up, I was able to tame them and able to blissfully wear them all. Instead this is a story of how all my socks mutinied against me.

It started off like any other day. After working hard to get my Concrete and Tulip knee high stripes to match perfectly, which included several rippings,  I was ready to debut them. Connor helped me get some lovely pictures.

Half a skein of Caterpillar Green Yarns in the Concrete and Tulips color way was used for each sock.

I even was going to have a bit of a victory lap by showing off the perfect calf shaping.

Look at that shaping. That slight negative ease. The socks were perfect.

Then disaster struck. After getting the pictures, Connor and I went for a walk. I thought to myself, I'll just wear these socks since I've got them on. I've re-fixed the color (Like I do with all my socks now), I've gotten the pictures... so now I can wear them. By the time we went down the driveway I felt the dreaded sag. By the end of the block it was like I had donuts around my ankles.

I've since reached out to people on instagram and have a vague plan involving elastic to make these wearable.

Fine, fine. I've had socks misbehave before. It's really disappointing, but that's how it goes. Just as I was finishing up the Concrete and Tulip socks and feeling smug, I thought I'd fix my Sheep May Safely Graze socks. They had been misbehaving for awhile, but the Concrete and Tulip socks were going so well (at the time), that I was convinced I could fix them "really quick."

The Sheep May Safely Graze socks are a tale full of woe. It was difficult to find the right white yarn for them. When I finally did, it turned out to not be well wearing. I wore them three times and had to mend the heels twice. Obviously, it would be a better use of my time to just rip out the heels and put new ones in. The socks sat on the mend pile for some time, but it was getting colder and I wanted to wear them. Carefully, I ripped out the heel, picked up the stitches, and started to replace them. I didn't have any sport weight yarn, so my plan was to hold some fingering weight double. The heels would be beefy and I'd never have to replace them again!

Except that I didn't realize that my plan would also make the heel so beefy that it would be uncomfortable in every pair of shoes I own. Look at that thing. It's huge! So the heel goes back to the frog pond... along with my patience.

So now I'm trying to finish my Christmas socks in time for Christmas. I started these on December 5th. Plenty of time, I thought. So much time, in fact, that I could finish up my knee highs and replace some heels. Well my friends, I'm getting a little nervous about finishing my Christmas socks on time.

Stray Cat Socks in the color Kiwi Christmas using the Geek Socks pattern.

Connor asked me after the knee high debacle, "You aren't going to let a pair of socks ruin your day?" I'm not proud of the answer... which was yes. I was a bit grumpy the rest of the day. Of course with three pairs of rogue socks, who knows what the rest of this week will be like.

The Socks Are Marching One By One, Hurrah, Hurrah

I am getting so close to finishing my Concrete And Tulip socks, I can taste it. I'm about to put the cuff into the second sock. Once that is done, I'm going to rip out the cuff on the first sock and re-knit it with two more stripes included in the ribbing. I'm also thinking that I want to try a tubular cast off for these socks. I've never done one and I'm obsessive about how the stripes land, so it may take a few goes. Does anyone have a favorite tutorial for that style of cast off? I'm partial to step by steps with pictures.

As soon as the knee high socks are done, one of these three balls of Stray Cat Sock yarn will be knit. I'm thinking either knitting a pair of Geek Socks with Kiwi Christmas or perhaps a pair of Vanilla Lattes with Pahutukawa Tree. I might hold off on the Joyeux Noel ball for now.

Left to right: Kiwi Christmas, Pohutukawa Tree, Joyeux Noel

Meanwhile, the poor Hieroglyphic Socks have been in time out. I had to reknit the cuff three times before it matched the gauge on the first sock. Not sure what happened, but I ended up having to go up a needle size. 

And that is all that is on the needles! I have all sorts of yarn sitting out with patterns printed and ready to go, but for some reason, I find it difficult to cast on. Probably because everything I want to make needs a gauge swatch... ugh.

Sweater, Sweater, Sock, Sock, Now I've Got The Knitting Shot

I have been dreaming of knitting sweaters, especially sweaters for me. The problem I've encountered is that my weight has been all over the place because of the mystery GI problems. In the last 8 months I've lost 20 pounds (9kg), but managed to gain back almost 5 (2kg). This has left me a little unsure as to where I'll ultimately land, so making an especially fitted sweater is out. I have, however, been eyeing the Iceland pattern from Rowan 42. I even started it once way back in 2010. (That yarn turned into the Fireside Sweater instead, which fit my wrong in the shoulders and now belongs to my Mum.) The only problem is that it either looks good on you or it doesn't. I checked out many different projects on ravelry, and I'm hoping that if I can make the waist hit higher, it will look flattering on me.

Meanwhile, since Connor is remaining the same size (and also I love him), I've also been wanting to make him a sweater. Wei Siew generously gifted me 5 balls of Mythral I needed when I was in New Zealand last. I wanted to do my best to honor her by not letting the yarn sit in stash for too long. I had envisioned a Walter Mitty style sweater, but something kept me from recreating it. I just didn't like how there were cables on the arms, but none on the body. It just seemed unbalanced. But recently Christina Danaee made a sweater that looked much more like what I wanted to make. And what do you know, she was also inspired by Walter Mitty.

I very conveniently own the same magazine that she used to make the sweater

As I agonize over sweater decisions, I have been plodding along on my socks. The Concrete and Tulip socks have gone pretty well so far, but still have some decisions attached to them. I got to the top of the cuff of the first sock and realized that I might want to make the ribbing a bit longer. Also, I've never done a tubular bind off, but that might be more appropriate for these socks since they are knee-high. I haven't quite worked out what I want to do, so I went ahead and started the second sock. I think I'll knit the second sock with the adjustments I want to make. If it doesn't work out, then I only have to rip out one sock to make them match... in theory.

The Hieroglyphic Socks are also being knit at a good pace. I find doing two handed color makes my hands sore after a certain number of rounds, so I just make sure to put a few rounds into them every day. They will get done slowly and steadily.

I Got 99 Problems and My Socks Are One

I've got two different socks on the needles at the moment, and frustratingly, I've gotten a little stuck on both. The Concrete and Tulip sock that I'm working from the toe-up is going to probably end up as a knee-high if I want to use up every bit of yarn, so now I need to decide how to go about doing the calf shaping. Meanwhile the Hieroglyphic Socks, which I am working from the cuff-down, has some heel decisions. I think most knitters in this situation would start a new project. I am tempted, but I also want to wear these socks.

To figure out my socks problems, I've reached into my library to see how others have dealt with the issue. No need to reinvent the wheel. For the Concrete and Tulip socks, I'm looking at the Welsh Country Stockings in Nancy Bush's Folk Socks as an example on how to do calf shaping. (You can see them in the upper left corner of the book.) Those socks are worked top-down, so it isn't a complete match. But now I have an idea on what kind of spacing I'll need for each set of increases.

The Hieroglyphic Socks have a heel problem because I made it one. I didn't care for the recommended heel, but I did like the way stickfia on ravelry worked her Hieroglyphic Socks. Originally I thought I would turn the heel like she did, but I really want all the stripes to match. I realized that I had tackled this problem before, so I broke out Lit Knits to see what I had done. I think I am going to use the dutch heel that was used in Behind The Garden Wall.

What kinds of sock problems have you all encountered? And do you have any favorite books you reference to remedy said problems?

Knit Myself Into A Corner

I started a new vanilla sock the other day because my Hieroglyphic Socks were too complicated for car knitting. I got this skein of Caterpillar Green Yarns in the Concrete and Tulips color way a while back and I have been hoarding it ever since.

So pretty

I want to use every bit of it, so I decided to do toe up socks. These aren't my first toe up socks, but since my last pair, I've been converted to using a heel flap. "No problem," I thought to myself. "It's just like knitting my usual top down pair in reverse. I'll just replace the decreases with increases." That was going well until I got to the heel turn. Going top down, decreases help shape the turn. Toe up.... I had no idea.

What Now?

So I searched through as many tutorials as I could manage until I found one that matched close enough. I'm using Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up Socks Recipe (MUMTU Socks) by Zhenya Lavy, but making a few edits so that it accommodates what I've already knitted. Fingers crossed that this works and I don't have to visit the frog pond.

Concrete And Tulips And Misbehaving Socks

New yarn has arrived! I've been wanting a skein of Caterpillar Green Yarns' Concrete and Tulips color way for some time, but kept putting it off. When I saw that they only seemed to be accepting preorders and that preorders only seem to show up monthly, I jumped. And I am happy I did. I think I'll have to knit these socks toe-up, which I haven't done in a while. But in the case of this yarn, every last bit needs to be used up.

Meanwhile, my Sheep May Safely Graze sock has still been giving me troubles. I finally I have the right white for the job, but I spent this week knitting all the way to the foot only to find that I needed to decrease the gusset more than I thought. (The foot will have 56 stitches when I am done. I guess my handspun is more of a sport weight.) After ripping and reaching the foot again, I realized that the ankle was too baggy for my slim ankles. So I ripped back even further and took a repeat out of the fence. I am on the heel again. Will this sock ever get knit up?!? 

While all this sock drama has gone on, the Onoprodum sock has saved my sanity. I knit up the rest of the foot and just have the toe of the second sock left. Hurrah! Of course my US size 0 needles are taken up by the other two socks, so I have put Onopordum on hold for the moment. I'm just happy that the hardest part of this sock was choosing the colors.

The Monkey sock is also at the heel flap. I am not in a real rush to finish it since it is my car knitting project. It is behaving itself for the time being.