Weekend Miscellany

A little about a lot of different things.

SOCKS

Today, I finished the "first" sock of the pair I was knitting for Tim. Now there are two.

I finished the knitting part last night. That just left stitching up the toes and weaving in the ends.

He reports that they are very warm. Well, they should be. Have you ever seen a cold alpaca? (I stole that. He said it first.)

I'd like to start another pair, because I really like knitting socks. But I should get back to my sweater instead.

GARDENING

Today, we planted the seeds for what we hope will be our summer garden. Two kinds of lettuce (red and green), zucchini, pumpkin, and leftover California poppy seeds.

I could have posted a photo, but there's nothing to see yet. Just potting soil in little planter cups.

I also have a bunch of sunflower seeds that I harvested last year, that I will just plant in the ground. And the raspberry canes are leafing out nicely. I hope their output is better than it was last year.

GREEN LAKE

After a week of mostly rain, it cleared up this afternoon. That prompted me to suggest that we head down to Green Lake for a walk.

The turtles have been out of hibernation for a few weeks now. I thought there would be more of them out sunning themselves, but only a few made an appearance.

However, on the other side of the lake, we did see something a little out of the ordinary.

 QUILTING

I managed to get out to the studio for an hour or two. The project I am currently planning involves using leftover strips of fabric that I have collected over the past several months. I am sewing them into longer strips and trimming them to various widths.

I have drafted a larger version of this block, as well as a diagonal version, and will sew the strips together to make a quilt of a size yet to be determined. It will be unplanned, spontaneous and random. Very different from what I usually do.

FLOWERS

This has been a good spring for flowers. It seems like there have been more crocuses and daffodils in our front yard than in years past.

The dark purple crocuses showed up first, followed by lighter purple and white crocuses.

Then came the daffodils.

  

Soon, there will be tulips.

Last weekend, we enjoyed the warmest day so far this year. It was a beautiful spring day — the warmest day so far this year with a high of about 65 degrees. We were out and about around Capitol Hill and took a stroll through Volunteer Park. Many flowers there to see.

Lastly, inspired by our visit to Vashon Island a couple weeks ago and the Seattle Distillery where we purchased a bottle of their coffee liqueur (scroll down), I found a recipe for homemade coffee liqueur which I will try out, with some adjustments.

Today, I prepared the cold brew coffee and purchased two vanilla beans and a bottle of vodka. Stay tuned . . .

Half a Pair of Socks

This is not an indication that I suffer from One-Sock Syndrome, also known as Second Sock Syndrome.

Rather, I offer it up as a cure for the condition.

I have knit the second sock of the pair, and will next knit the first one.

The yarn is alpaca yarn that my husband gave me for Christmas, the green yarn two years ago and the blue yarn this past Christmas. I made him a cap, and then got distracted with other projects.

But I decided it was time to use it. I had originally intended to have just the heel and toe in the blue, but ran out of the green . . . well, you can see where I ran out.

Warm and Toasty Feet

Last night I finished my latest pair of socks. They are soft and warm, and give my feet the happy feeling.

The yarn is Poems Socks from Universal Yarn, 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, color 958. Size 0 needles, 9.5 sts/inch. Nothing fancy, just a simple K2P2 rib.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have finished them for another week or two. But last week, I came down with a bit of a cold, and spent most of Thursday taking it easy — among other things (such as napping), sitting in my chair and watching some shows off the DVR and, of course, knitting.

One technique I've used on the last few pairs of socks I've made is to start off with the German Twisted Cast On, which is a bit more stretchy than the basic long-tail cast on that my mom taught me.

Tonight I will swatch for the sweater shown at the end of this post.

First Sweater (Size Very Small)

Yay me! I finished something today!

I started it last September, and finished knitting the pieces — oh, a month or two ago. I blocked the pieces in preparation for seaming them together, but then they sat for awhile.

In the meantime, I knit Dave's socks, a larger version of the same baby sweater,

one and one-quarter socks,

finished the front of one hand pillow, started the next,

bought the yarn for a full-size sweater,

and purchased fabric and notions to make a shirt for Tim.

What can I say— I get bored easily!

Dave's Sox

If this year has been any indication, it can take anywhere from two or three weeks to a couple months to knit up a pair of socks. Granted, they're never the only project in progress, and I have been known to set them aside to work more exclusively on something else.

However, I am happy to say that it took me less than a year to make good on last year's Christmas gift to the members of my sister's family, as reported here and here and here.

This included one false start, where I got nearly to the end of one sock originally intended for Elaine, before concluding that it simply would not fit her. Not sure what went awry — I had made a swatch. In any event, I had to start over.

Earlier this week, I mailed off the last pair to my brother-in-law Dave. And this morning I received this:

Before I sent them, I took a photo of them flat — or sort of flat anyway. I couldn't find my sock blocker inserts.

Sock Darning

Suddenly, I needed to finish the scarf mentioned in my last post.

I needed the yarn to darn a hole and a soon-to-be hole in the warm woolly socks (Malabrigo worsted) I wear around the house, now that the weather has turned.

 

I understand the theory behind darning, as imparted by my mom. My technique may be somewhat lacking, but I hope it will hold up.

I could have matched the color better, but it's not a high priority with these socks.

Carlyn's Sox

Three down, one pair to go.

These are the socks I knit for my niece Carlyn . . .

. . . and here they are, being modeled.

I think they took only about a month to make — much quicker than the pairs for her brother and sister. I'm not sure why it took less time.

The yarn was a skein I picked up in Friday Harbor last year, at Island Wools. It is a hand painted yarn made by the store's owner. This particular yarn is Bamboo Bliss, colorway Tropical Dreams which I do not see on the website.

It was fun to knit up, and to see how the stripey pattern developed.

I've begun knitting Dave's pair, but he may have to be patient. I finished the quilt top for my next Craftsy pattern, and I'm working on getting it quilted so I can publish the pattern.

Elaine's Sox

A couple of weeks ago, I finished the pair of socks for my niece Elaine and sent them off

Last weekend, I received confirmation that they had arrived.

The next pair is knitting up very quickly. I've already finished the first one, and am about halfway through the second. A couple of nights ago I started the heel flap.

Strand’s Sox

For Christmas, I promised to knit a pair of socks for my sister’s husband and three kids. (I knit a pair for her awhile back, before I started this blog. If I had already started blogging, there would be a post about hers, but I hadn’t so there isn’t.)

I hadn’t given any thought to whose pair I would knit first.

However, that determination was easily made when I received a pre-emptive thank-you note from my nephew within a couple weeks after Christmas.

I mailed them off to him late last week, but I didn’t want to post about them until I knew he had received them, and sent me some requested photos, which arrived today.

Thus and herewith, Strand’s Sox. (Actually, I took the first photo pre-mailing.)

Now, I am working on Elaine’s (who took a cue from her brother and also sent me a pre-thank-you note).

Once Was Enough

In early October, I started over with knitting a pair of silk socks.

In late December, I wrote that I had completed the first of two.

Now, less than five months since I began (again), I am happy to report that the pair is 99 percent done!

This morning, I kitchenered the toe on the second sock. All that remains is to weave in the ends.

It was an experience, and one that I plan never to repeat.

In Progress

 At any one time, I  am working on several projects. I'm like that in most areas of my life — I usually have at least two books that I'm reading, if not three or four; at work, I used to have several projects on my desk at various stages of completion. That works for me; sometimes I'm in the mood for knitting, sometimes for quilting, sometimes for embroidery. Sometimes I want to work on something that requires more attention, sometimes I want something that I can do automatically without thinking about it too much.

Here are my current projects.

A few days ago, I finished sewing on the binding for this little wall hanging. It is the same pattern as this one, but in a different colorway.

This is my latest hand pillow. I finished appliquéing the hands last night. This afternoon I will fuse on the hearts.

Out in my studio, I have one waiting to be assembled into a pillow, and I already have one waiting in the wings.

My silk sock is coming along nicely. Only ten or fifteen rounds remain on the leg; then I can get started on the heel flap.

 

Over Christmas break, I cut the pieces for the blocks for a quilt that I hope to make available at my Craftsy store. It is based on this quilt, but will be larger and have Maple Leaf blocks in four sizes.

And last, but not least, there's this little quilt that I just felt like doing.

The red hearts still need their blanket stitch appliqué. I don't know what its eventual destiny will be, but it was fun to mix and match all the red and white fabrics.

The (Continuing) Saga of the Silk Sock(s)

Before I started composing this post, I reviewed previous posts that had included mention of my endeavor to knit a pair of silk socks. I was surprised to see that I had written about it four times, beginning just over a year ago, followed in quick succession here and here, and then a long gap until a couple of months ago.

Well, I am happy to report that the first sock has been completed to my satisfaction . . .

. . . and I have begun the second sock.

Silk Sox Revisited, and other knitting

In 2011, I wrote about knitting a silk sock, here and here and here.

It went badly enough, that I put that particular yarn aside, and knit some other things.

I knit a hat for my husband, with the alpaca yarn he gave me last Christmas.

I used this pattern, which is a top-down style. Another cap I had made him was bottom-up, and never quite covered his ears.

Then I made a pair of socks for myself using Mighytsock yarn. The colorway I used is called Wildflowers, which I don't see on the web page. Last night, I kitchenered the second toe, and wore them today.

Have I mentioned that I have a weakness for variegated yarns?

So, after nearly a year, I'm ready to take another run at the silk socks. I made a couple of changes, with the intent that they will fit better. I cast on more stitches (110 instead of 96) and cast on with the German Twisted Cast On, which is supposed to be more elastic than a regular long-tail cast on.

Live and Learn

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

That’s what I thought about making a pair of silk socks.

Last night, I ”finished” the first one. I wrote “finished” because I stopped working on it and kitchenered the toe sooner than I should have. Why? Because I was getting frustrated.

I don’t know what changed, but the yarn was getting really sticky. It was not sliding off the needles easily. This had happened on occasion, but if I put the knitting down and came back to it later, it seemed to go away.

But as I was working on the toe, it just . . . kept . . . sticking. Which is bad enough when you're working on a regular round, but when it's on the decrease and the number of stitches you’re working with keeps getting smaller. . . . Well, let’s just say that it wasn’t fun.

I knew that I still should do more on the toe, but I ignored the little voice in my head and went ahead and stitched it closed.

Technically, it fits, but I can feel the seam more than I should.

On other socks I've made, I haven’t succumbed to single sock syndrome. Maybe at some future date, I will cast on the second silk sock. But, for now, I think I will take a break and work on something else.

Perhaps I will make something with the yummy alpaca yarn I received for Christmas from my lovely husband, Tim.

Nearly Done

Since this post, I have made good progress on the silk sock. I tried it on the other evening to see how close I was getting to the toe. I decided about 10 more rounds should do it, and now I've got about one more to go before I begin the toe decrease.

One thing I discovered when I tried it on was that the cast on at the top of the leg was a smidge tight. Well, more than a smidge. I had trouble getting it over my heel, but by taking it slow and easy, I was able to ease it around.

I think when I do the second one, I will cast on with size 1 or 2 needles. If I wanted to get fancy, I could do a provisional cast on that leaves a nice stretchy edge. But I think I might be a little lazy for that. Maybe on a future pair.

A Silk Sock

I like to knit socks.

After the obligatory scarves, a couple of hats, and several pairs of fingerless mitts (more on that later), and a shrug for my daughter that had a severely intense decrease going on way and a corresponding increase on the other side (2:1 and 1:2 respectively), I decided to tackle socks.

I tried a short-row heel but decided that wasn’t for me. My mother had knit socks and she did the whole heel flap/gusset thing, which I think looks much more elegant. I also tried the two-circular-needles technique. Again, not my thing. I seem to do fine with one sock at a time and still ending up with a pair.

The first couple of pair I made (for myself as a test subject) were a little on the large side. But they keep my feet plenty warm in the winter.

I made a pair for my husband, from a pattern I found on the internet appropriately called the Gentlemen's Matrimony Celebratory Socks. If I recall correctly, I adjusted the pattern to fit him. Even then, I liked to fiddle with the math.

Since then, I have designed and made a pair for me, my daughter, and a select other lucky few.

But there is a sock project I have been working on sporadically for the last several months that speaks to my true obsessive-compulsive nature.

A pair of silk socks.

On size 0 needles.

This is what I’ve accomplished thus far. One hundred and five rounds of K3P2 rib and 6 rows of slipstitched heel flap.

This is actually the second silk sock I've worked on. The first one I attempted to introduce a cable stitch, but I couldn't find a cable needle or cable needle substitute that was small enough. So eventually I decided to cut my losses, ripped it back and started over. I decided that if I was going to knit a pair of silk socks, I better be pleased with the result, and cables just wasn’t the way to go.

Back to the drawing board, and a simple rib.

So far, so good.