Too Much Wool

things long overlooked

First of all, I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful, full of family and happiness and peace.

I accomplished something over the weekend that I feel I can justifiably brag about. Having finished the holiday knitting just in the nick of time (on the 24th), I picked up what has to be the very oldest UFO in the house. I'm not sure when I started these socks, but I know it was pre-blog - which means it has to be over 4 years ago. I actually think I put them aside a full five years ago, right after Christmas.

I finished them in less than four days. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock (with a little Koigu at the toes) and although they were originally intended for my dad, they were too big for him. So the wound up being a late-holiday gift for Jon. Apparently, my boredom with stockinette has worn off, because the next thing I started was this:

No need to adjust your monitors - it really is a pair of blue socks. But its blue handspun, which makes all the difference. I spun, fairly badly, a few of Abby's sock batts over a year and a half ago. Not thinking about it very much, I spun a two-ply, and then had the yarn sitting around all this time because I really thought it wasn't very good.

So much for that. Its actually knitting up really nicely, slubs and unevenness and all. Which just goes to prove that the proof is in the knitting, ultimately. They're plain stockinette, 64 sts on 2.5mm needles, and considering that I started them yesterday they're going incredibly quickly.

To add one more thing to the list (of things that have languished and are now being worked on), I've also been spinning up a storm. I had some Spinner's Hill fiber from a while ago, and when I needed something to work with, I picked it up. Mostly because it was the nearest thing to hand.

These are the first three skeins - there are two more soaking as I type - and although I started with no real plan at all, I'm kind of hoping for enough for a sweater. Right now I've got a bit over 850 yards spun up, with more on the bobbins and a decent amount of fiber left to spin. I'm more than halfway done, but I will easily have over a thousand yards when its all done.

Next up may be trying to get over my paranoid fear of my sweater UFOs. Considering how well these other things are going, 'tis entirely possible that will happen too.

fun while it lasted...

It seems that my little color knitting experiment didn't work out. Which is really a shame, because I was having fun with it for a while. I got all the way to here...

... when I finally tried it on. As you may be able to tell from the cuff, I went overboard in keeping my two color ribbing "loose enough". Its actually too loose, compared to the rest of the sock.

Other mistakes

• I was awfully sloppy with the slipped stitches at the edge of the heel flap (which has never happened to me before - I figure it was the two-color thing). Next time around I'd do the ribbing on smaller needles.
• I didn't really think enough about the patterning. I'm not totally displeased, but I was designing on the needles and wish I had done a couple of things differently. 
• Because of said loose heel flap edge sts, my heel flap was just a wee bit too short

The good news, on the other hand:

• I now know that I need to go down a needle size for the ribbing, as well as perhaps not casting on quite so loosely (not to self: be careful not to over-do it on the "not too loose cast on")
• I realized that designing something in color, in spite of it looking like a bootie for Cindy Lou Who, is really a lot of fun. Must continue.
• I also know that short ankle socks on big needles are extremely satisfying, and if the mistakes are corrected, would make fabulous slipper socks for winter wear.

Oh, and in answer to Misty's question, you can see some clear pictures of the Norwegian Purl HERE (scroll down to the second set of pictures). What it has over regular continental purling, for color work, is that the yarns are kept in back, which allowed me to hold both colors in my left hand and leave them in place (not bringing the yarn to the front for the purl stitches). Although it seems I still need to work on tension, its still an exciting discovery.

And now, back to the holiday knitting. More on that soon, I actually have a small pile of holiday gifts to show before they leave for new homes.

... and the knitting

Having suddenly realized that its almost holiday time - something I've been intending to ignore, and so far have entirely ignored this year - I realized that I have a couple of things to finish.

So far, the Holiday Uncle Socks are going well...

This was Take Three on these. I'm back to 60 sts on 2.75mm needles. Don't ask how I started here, frogged, tried again, and then frogged and restarted back where I began. The Sheep Shop 3 yarn is lovely (merino/silk) and knits up quickly. It remains to be seen how well it holds up, but they're definitely soft, squishy and holiday-giftable.

I found - not sure how I "lost" it, but anyway - a hat I started a full year ago and abandoned.

This color refuses to photograph, but its a tweedy, dark burgundy. 100% cashmere, bulky weight (from School Products). Delicious to knit. I'm using the Ringwood Hat pattern from an old Spin Off, a pattern I've made several times already, though I'm using a smaller stitch count for the bulky yarn.

I actually finished something, too.

Its the Raha Scarf from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. A lovely pattern, quick and easy. I used two yarns held together (Jaggerspun Zephyr and Mericash merino/cashmere). It has a lovely sheen and drape.

With all the progress on the holiday gifts, it was inevitable that I'd lose focus, me being me and all that. I got a little sidelined today when I had a revelatory knitting experience.

Corrugated ribbing plus "Nowegian" purl is making me very happy right now. [That's Happy Trails sport/DK weight sock yarn on 3.25mm needles, and I'm just playing around for now.]

gauge plague

I really wanted to call this post "gauge rage" but, to be honest, I'm not really angry. A little frustrated perhaps, but rage is over-doing it a bit. [However, I'm all in favor of the concept of gauge rage becoming as well known as road rage - I think there's some validity to it as a syndrome of sorts.]

I'm not having too much luck with my socks these days. Or rather, I'm doing just fine with two pairs of socks that I dislike intensely, and no luck whatsoever with the socks I really want (and need) to be making. Here's the rundown:

I started these socks a couple of months ago, when I needed something to do as I was running out the door. The yarn predates the blog, and its some absolute crap Italian yarn that I recently compared to twine. I'm sure that these socks will wear well into the next millenium, but they are not really any sort of fun to knit, feel (and probably won't be to wear, either). Yet, I'm still slogging along on them.

These socks are Lang/Jawoll sportweight. Not very soft (but way better than the previous pair). They're the socks that I was barely able to squeak a woman's size 7/37 out of one skein of yarn. Nothing special, also started for a quick project, but unfortunately they're not going to be big enough for my uncle, so they fail in the Holiday Uncle Socks department.

And then we have the gauge disasters.

This is ... well, kinda sad. I had the brilliant idea of using Sheep Shop 3 for these. I wanted soft and cushy, sportweight, quick. The yarn (30% silk) is surprisingly strong. I couldn't actually break it with my hands and had to use scissors to cut it. But I just guessed on the number of cast on stitches and went way overboard with 60. I checked and the last pair of sportweight socks I made with 2.75mm needles used 48 stitches - (gods bless Ravelry for letting me reference that - unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to check ahead of time). Thankfully, I just have a few rows to rip out.

This one really qualifies as sad. When I realized yesterday that the brown Sheep Shop sock wasn't working, I quickly cast on with some Heirloom Argyle - a yarn I'd used before. I was proud for being so practical, figuring that a known quantity in yarn would yield a safe result.

And then I totally botched it.

Its hard to explain (or maybe not). I usually make myself 64 st socks on 2.25mm needles. So I figured that I'd make these with 64 sts on 2.5mm, just slightly bigger - right? Well, I overcompensated, totally so. I knit most of this on the subway yesterday, but I was knitting way too loose. I don't know what part of my brain wasn't connecting, but they're floppy and totally unacceptable [to me] for sock fabric. Not to mention too big.

To further humiliate myself in public, I should also mention that the last time I used this yarn, I knit mansocks on 2mm needles. Not 2.5mm. Nice, firm yet soft fabric. So I have no idea what I was thinking when I got all creative with the 2.5mm needles. And the loose gauge.

Also? Y'all should be proud of me for taking pictures before the ripping begins. Right about now....

ode(s) to perseverance

I've had several weeks of worrying and family issues that have kept me from blogging. It wasn't until I got three (private) emails in one day asking if I was all right that I realized I'd neglected the blog for way too long.

I've been knitting. Actually, I've been knitting [and spinning] up a storm, but I haven't had the time or mental capacity to deal with writing about it for a while.

I finished spinning up 2oz of cormo/silk from Foxfire Fibers, a beautiful hand-dyed roving that I beelined to when I first heard about it at Rhinebeck. I love Barb's cormo/silk blend so much that I took some (undyed) to Sigga Sif in Iceland over the summer. The lure of the same roving, beautifully dyed, was too much to resist.

Out of 2 oz of fiber, I got about 400 yards of laceweight. This is so fine, I don't know for sure yet what I'm going to make with it, but honestly? It was effortless - the fiber drafted beautifully and spun without me even paying much attention. As usual, I whined and moaned about how long it was taking to spin and ply, but in the end, the result was totally worth it.

I finished the Raha scarf from Nancy Bush's new Knitted Lace of Estonia book. Actually, I finished it a couple of days ago, but the blocking is something I haven't had time for. I made what I thought was a relatively ingenious yarn substitution, using yarns on hand/from stash, and was really happy with the knitting of the project.

About the day after Thanksiving, I realized that the holidays were nigh upon us, and I kicked myself into high(er) gear on some holiday presents. The Raha scarf was the first. I have an Icelandic lamb/silk Lace Ribbon Scarf  that's almost done as well. But then I got stuck on the expected holiday socks for my uncle.

I had started some sportweight Lang/Jawoll socks with the intention of gifting them, but ... honestly? The yarn is like unto twine and there's almost no way that I can gift them. But I wanted to free up the needles and finish the UFO, so I finished the first sock and am well on my way to finishing the second. [People with good memories may recall that the first sock used up all but a couple of yards of a single skein of yarn. The socks will fit a US 7/Eu 37/37.5 woman. No more than that. A truly frustrating case of skimpy yardage.]

I'm still struggling with the Holiday Uncle Socks for (HUS) this year. I've decided that I want them to be A. quick (i.e., thicker than fingering yarn) and B. soft and squishy. Having knit one pair of sportweight socks in a ropelike yarn, I have no intentions of  gifting anything like that - just not ... special enough.

I'm currently swatching a couple of sportweight yarns for the Uncle Socks. More on that soon, as I think it deserves a post of its own. Also, if anyone knows of an awesome sportweight yarn that would work well for socks (doesn't have to be sock-specific yarn, as far as I'm concerned) I'd love to know about it.