Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I suppose I should be panicking...

With less than two days left to go, the Edwardian Boating Socks are not done. In fact, I haven't even finished the heel on the second one. Instead of frantically knitting my hands off, I cast on for another pair of socks. In my defense, I did get some KnitPicks fixed circulars for Christmas and wanted to see what I thought of them. I like them quite a bit, but sadly the sock on them must get frogged. After all, mesh cable socks don't really work. I'm either going to use the same yarn and go down to a size 0 (adapting the pattern) or find a thicker yarn in my stash. Sadly, both my size 1 needles are in use (Edwardian and Eunice), so it's size 2 or 0.

I'm also trying to get into SAM 09. I'm hoping that that will help motivate me to actually get socks done. I have learned some good lessons from the boating socks (basketweave does not work with alpaca, if I hate the color of a yarn and dislike the pattern it's really hard to get a pair of socks done, and I like the lace addis for socks much much better than the normal ones), but at this point I just want them off the needles.

I do think the Boating Socks are a great pattern for handpainted yarn, just not Imagination.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Yes, I continue to fail at blogging. But not at knitting, well, not all the time.

I've kinda wandered into Revolutionary War recreations, and have now made 2.5 pairs of socks. The .5 may get frogged so I can use the yarn for another sock pattern I like better, but we'll see.

I recently acquired Sock Innovation by Cookie A, and I've decided my New Years Project is to knit all the patterns in the book. Yes, I like them all that much. I'd like them even better if they were toe-up, but I understand why they aren't, and it's not a huge deal one way or the other. I'm starting with Eunice, knitted in Knit Picks Imagination Sock Yarn in the Looking Glass colorway, on an Addi Lace Turbo size 1.

I've also got the Edwardian Boat Socks on the other long circular, and I'm knitting them for a knit-along. I'm halfway through the first foot and the deadline's the end of December. I've altered the pattern, adding an extra purl stitch between each of the three center arrow rows, and am making the foot plain. The top of my foot is sensitive, and this pattern seems to take all the softness out of the yarn. It's certainly a nice pattern for variegated yarn though.

I still have three shawls on the needles, the Lehe, the half square in trinity stitch, and a pattern from Knitting Lace Triangles, but all three are on hold, more or less. The Lehe just doesn't hold my interest for long, the trinity is difficult to work with for long periods of time (really thin yarn and size 10 needles not the best combo ever) and I can't find Knitting Lace Triangles.

Good thing I now have two pairs of socks on the needles, right?

Anyway, pics of at least one WIP...