A sock is finished!

I finally finished it! I am pretty pleased with myself (so much so I wore the single sock to bed last night...I don't wear socks to bed ever). I even had a small amount of yarn left!! I was right..each little ball is enough for an ankle sock for myself. I wasn't sure about the coloring of it all once knitted up but once it was on my foot I really like it. My grafting went perfectly (thanks to Knit Socks!) and I actually have the right length this time. I could probably add a few rounds to the length but as the fabric loosens up due to wear it really doesn't matter. This is such a perfect fit for my foot! Ok so here it is!
Needles: Size 3 Clover Bamboo dpn's (4 of the 5) Yarn: Art Yarns Super Wash in unknown color. Color number on tag of skein is different than color noted on the website. Pattern: Top down generic pattern using the directions in The Knitters Handbook of Patterns for multiple gauges.


In other knitting news, I frogged the mystery WIP. I pulled it out the other day when there was a sudden onset of crappy cold weather. As I looked it over to remember where I was at pattern wise the yarn screamed at me to not continue on. I am having such a hard time using this yarn for something. It has yet to make up it's mind as to what it shall be.
I have started on a doll for my neice for Christmas and am pretty pleased with it so far. The only thing that bugs me ( seriously bugs me) is that every doll pattern I looked at (I couldn't find my Toys to Knit book) is knit flat with a million seams. Why!? I am done with the two legs and am almost done with the body...all knit on dpn's. I just don't get why they make it harder than it should be.

Oh and the best news? We have a freaking house!!! We finally gave up (a.k.a it finally dawned on Dh that I was indeed right this whole time) and went looking for one on our own. Today a friend took me out and about since DH had the car and we found a place. I looked at it, then DH and I looked at it and we decided to go for it. It's a perfect fit for us and the best part? There are closets with built in shelves. I may not get a knitting room but By Jove! I have a fantastic closet to line everything up in!!!

Sock WIP pictures

I have been one lonely girl without Internet for the past three weeks. Getting to randomly use it for very short periods of time sucks ass. :)

I started a sock about a week ago and picked it back up today. I had gotten quite a bit done. I'm using Art yarns Superwash, size three needles, and the basic sock pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges. So far I'm doing well. There is a pattern flaw but that may be a flaw on my part. I'm pretty sure it's the pattern though.

I'm not loving the color of the yarn anymore though. It reminds me of Indian Corn. When I bought it reminded me of sand. Oh well...they are super comfy so far!

Pictures to match earlier

Pictures for last nights/this mornings post. The first is an up close of the twised rib. Nice webbing going on and the other is the wrap blocking. I have no pins so I had to use some glasses to hold it in place. I've never blocked like this before (meaning I've never saturated an item, rolled it out in a towel, and then secured it)...I've always just pinned it down, squirted it with my water bottle, and then pat the water in to make sure it absorbed. This is already so much better. I haven't picked it up yet this morning but it looks better shape wise than my normal method. In real life it looks more pinkish in hue than it does here. Everything I have taken pictures of lately comes out more flourescent than it really is. :)

Pay attention to your directions!

Oh and ummm, no matter how motivated you are DON'T start a project until you have all the neccessary info. :)

I finally cast off on one of three triplet wraps. Yes it took a long time and yes I have the other two to finish. When I first cast on for this project I had PM'd K to ask if a size small was still going to work. She took a couple days to reply what being busy with newborns and all. When she did she said she needed newborn instead. No problemo! I'm not sure if I had already cast on at this point or not. It's been awhile. Fast forward a bit and we have moved and are living in a hotel room. I thought ahead and on the day we left our previous home I had packed my knitting bag with the wraps and other projects I wanted to work on. It wasn't until halfway through our first hotel stay that I pulled out the wraps. I had scaled down to knitting one at a time and was cruising along. I was finally to a point where I start my leg decreases when I thought something was off. I counted my stitches and I had too many. Had I miscounted? I go back a bit into my knitting and count stitches on a previous row. Nope, I had cast on for a small. Irritating to say the least. It certaintly took the wind out of my sails. So I did my decreases and grumbled along the way. The result is a newborn/small hybrid. About 75% is in size newborn portions while the first 25% is in small. As bothersome as that is too me I figure it might actually be perfect. When I had a newborn her stomach was definitely larger than her itty bitty thighs. I'm hoping the waist being a size small will actually be a good thing. We shall see.

As much as I hate 1x1 ribbing I do like it on these wraps. Maybe because there is so little ribbing to be done or maybe because it goes quickly. Either way, I'm liking it. My first one I opted out of doing the tweisted rib. I didn't want to "learn" it being the newbie that I was. Since "learning" it though I am thrilled! I am tempted to do the waist on my next Picky Pants in twisted rib. I thought that on the last wrap I did as well. I just didn't do it this last time. :) The first time I tried it out I was skeptical of it's extra stretch but shockingly enough it really is there. I suggest trying it out.

I was also skeptical of going up in needle size for binding off. Don't ask on that one. I had to do it though on this last pair of Picky Pants. I tried binding off in my 8's but it was so tight it left indents when I tried them on the munchkin. I ended up going up five sizes I think. I can't remember...and even then I have a tight cuff. I figured it was best I size up on the wrap as well and went from a 6 to a 10. It worked like a charm again. Although it is still a bit tight for my liking. I just can't get it loose!

I have pictures but Blogger needs a picture break again. I'll post in the morning. I got one of it blocking sans velcroe and one of the twisted rib. I tried to get a shot of the extra webbing it throws in there to show that there is indeed more stretch.

Holy picture posting batman part 2

Okie dokie. I knew Blogger was just overwhelmed with my glorious pictures and needed a second to mull them over. ;)

The Mountain Colors Superwash is odd. In the hank it appears far more earthy...at least in person it does. Wound into a ball it gets to be more primary colorish and in the picture they look like candy tones. I'm not sure if I like it. When I bought the yarn I had every intention of using it on me. However the gift giving season is upon us and I think I might make my mother in law some socks with it. She has a pair of crocheted socks that I, personally, think are horrendous. Add into the mix that they are plenty old and they beg to be replaced. How old you ask? I have known her for three years and she has had them the entire time. Still not old enough? She's had them since BEFORE I met her. It's time. As I uploaded the picture into Photobucket today I toyed with the idea. I have been wanting to handknit something for her since I learned to knit. Not everyone is that special. Something about her needs it though. I have plenty of that yarn that I may even still get a pair for myself. For now though, they are for her. I'm not sure that the color is in her taste so I shall see. The husband, convienently her son ;), says she would. The yarn is thin though so I would have to double up the yarn I think. I've never done that and it does petrify me to wind the two balls together. There is a reason the second skein isn't wound in that picture. It's insanely long!!! It took me two hours to get it unwrapped so that I could wind it. I don't have a swift so in order to effectively wind my yarn I have to unwind the skein. Not usually a problem but this stuff is never ending and thin. Makes for a lot of knots. My mother in law also has a large foot. Size 10 to be exact. That's a LOT of knititng. Me? I wear a size 7 and have a hard time finishing a pair of socks. It will be an undertaking should I decide to do it.
The next picture is the Cascade Stripes hubbo chose for his socks. I grabbed two skeins based off the non descriptive drawing on the label. I haven't touched it. The first night in our borrowed house I was winding up my balls when I noticed how much yarn was in each skein. I started to get worried. Then I noticed that my Art Yarns and those were close, if not the same size. There isn't enough for manly socks. How do I know? For my female size 7 my Art Yarns skeins are coming very close. I'm thinking of doing a hat (the earwarmer one from LTK) and then a tarot card holder. I want to get those to him for Christmas but I'm not sure. I have a lot of Christmas knitting to do.
The single skein of ArtYarns is not lonely. The other ball is sitting behind it in a half finished sock. I'm into the foot portion and am having doubts that I will finish with one skein. When I bought it I asked the woman at the counter and she said for ankle socks (which I want) I should be fine using my asize 3's and only using one skein per sock. I'm seriously doubting it at this point. I don't want to go buy another skein and I don't want to frog it and use smaller needles. Push comes to shove though and I'll buy another skein. Only problem is all those skeins are for socks for me. I'd have to go either go buy three more skeins (one in each color) or get used to the idea of knitting on smaller needles. I just find the thought of going smaller than a three horribly upsetting. I'm not sure why but socks fit on size 3. They just work best there. Color me odd.

I am so in love with all my yarn and I'm hoping that moving into our house (a whole other issue in and of itself) will prompt me to get going. In the meantime I am slowly getting started on much needed things.

Holy picture posting batman!

I finally have something of an Internet connection so I decided I needed to do some updating. Pictures are (in order): merino roving, handspun merino, manos and cascade used for Picky Pants, Picky Pants, Close up of pants, manos and cascade for more picky pants, mountain colors sock yarn, cascade stripes sock yarn, and art yarn superwash. Not all the pictures are in this post though. The single ball of artyarn is not a lone gunner. The matching ball is about half way through an ankle sock for me. As always, you can click the pictures to bring up a larger one.


The Picky Pants are a size medium. They are a bit short for my liking but I have an issue with pant lengths. In all honesty they are a perfect fit for the wee one. I have ten garter ridges on as the cuffs. I love the way they look. My first cuff though has some issues which you can see in the first picture of the pants. I kept screwing up on the first stitch of the round so I havea diagonal line going through the cuff where I occassionally have some stockinette stitch going on. That seems to be my only mistake though. My kitchener for the crotch is fabulous! I actually used the directions/pictures from my Knit Socks! book and it went so much better. Not sure why, they are the same as every other set of direction I have ever used. Who knows? I can't wait to get started on the other pair. As I was pulling pictures from Photobucket to put in here I found some more yarn I have destined to be Picky Pants and I can't wait. I think my knitting motivation is actually coming back. I need it to. I have a lot of things on my knitting plate and very few are getting worked on. I am slacking big time and it's beginning to bug me. Plus I am a HH helper this year and need to get going there. SIGH, UGH, GRUMBLE. :)

Ok, I just tried to make a new post to post the remaining three pictures. Blogger, once again, has something in it's backside and won't let me. I shall post them later on when it thinks I haven't posted pictures for a bit. :)

No house, new yarn

We have yet to move in to a house. When this was all brought up to me I told my husband I didn't want to move to a new state and end up not having a house to move into right away. What do you know? I was right. Joy.

I did get a bunch of new stuff though. I got to go to a pretty decent sized yarn store here in town and blew quite a bit of money. My absolute favorite thing(s) out of it all so far is my Schacht hi-lo Spindle and a 10 ounce ball of merino roving. Yes I have a spindle and yes I have roving but I wanted something better. When I first got my spindle (the one I ordered offline) I knew it was different. It was a low whorl spindle but it was built oddly. It had a flat bottom with no shaft sticking out. No biggie since it was my first one. I thought it was heaven. Since using my Schacht though....oh boy! I am in heaven! This thing glides through the air like it was made of nothing. The basic balance of it beats my other one by leaps and bounds. The first one, I think I need a name for it, wobbled...the balance was off...something weighed more and it was centered. I couldn't figure it out but I made do. The Schacht has incredible balance. It's like an orgasm for my hands. :)

The roving I got to go with it is beautiful merino. Reds and blues and golds. Looking at the ball you'd think it would mainly turn out red but after spinning a bit of it the color is very much tweedy...it reminds me of my Salt Lake Donegal Tweed. The spindle holds about 1.1 ounces so I made up a two ply with a total weight of about 2.2 ounces. What a difference when you have good quality roving! My first stuff was hairy. I wasn't a fan of it. It looked like it had split ends after it was spun. Very unimpressed. This new stuff though is smooth and slick. I've already started knitting a bracelet with a design based off a sock pattern. This stuff is gorgeous! I'm pretty impressed with myself too. It was my first time actually "washing" it to neutralize the twist in it. Oddly enough I had my Spinning the Old Way book in my knitting bag. So last night I pulled it out after I finished plying and read through it all, got it washed up, and hung to dry. There is a reason they recommend doing that! It relaxed my yarn so much and made it more useable...less rigid. It was pretty amazing to see it all turn out. I am in love with that stuff! I just wish it didn't take so long. Reading through the book I realized I could make it easier on myself in regards to how I work with the roving. As it stands right now I just seperate my strips and lay them out. Then I join a new piece when I need to. Not a big deal since it's effcient and I have optimum control over how much gets drafted in. The book though shows how to wrap it around you wrist and go from there. I want to try it but I am a snob and very particular to how my yarn turns out. I'm not a fan of the whole thick and thin thing and I hate novelty. I want uniform, consistent, even yarn all throughout. I blame my OCD.

I bought some more Manos for the sole purpose of longies. These colors are beautiful! I got two different colors and then some solid Cascade 220 to use for the waist and cuffs. I'm thinking of maybe do leg "patches" too to add some personality to them. :) I just tried to add in pictures and Blogger isn't letting me. I'll try in a new post. :)

I also bought four skeins of sock yarn. The husband has been complaining I have yet to make him anything so I grabbed some Cascade 220 in blues for him. He picked out the color and was pretty appaled to see how much a pair of socks would cost. lol He just doens't get it. ;) I got some sock yarn for me in a GORGEOUS color. The yarn is Mountain Colors sock yarn in Gold Rush. Very pretty. I do have the online picture of it and it does not do it justice. Makes it look very...primary colorish. In real life the colors are more earthy. I bought (on a different day) Knit Socks as well. I want to make some out of there but I'm knid of irritated with the book. Her numbers are off big time. For instance for my 18 month old daughter I cast on 40 stitches with size 3 needles. In this book there are multiple patterns that say to cast on 48 stitches on size 1-3 needles for a WOMAN'S medium. I wear a medium. I need at least 60-64 for a sock to fit. Most of the patterns require numbe specific patterns as well. There is one I want to make that uses a chveron lace dealio. It's in a 9 stitch pattern which is fine. I can figure it out but it's the entire pattern that needs refiguring. Why buy the book if I need to do the pattern writing myself you know? I have made the munchkin a few pairs of socks and ended up frogging them a few times. Irritating to say the least but luckily it's jsut toddler socks. Nothing huge.

I also bought two pairs of needles. Size 1 and 2. Holy smallness batman! I ended up buying Brittany brand needles since they didn't have both sizes in Clover. Thank god I did. I ended up snapping two of my size 1's in half the first day I sued them. I was pretty upset about it all and mad that I had done it. I went to put them back in the box they came in and noticed yet again that the company has a 5 year replacement on them. Woo hoo! No need to buy a whole new set. :)

I have been knitting. Not nearly as much as I had hoped since it's hard to find motivation when you're in a hotel room all day. I decided to do the wraps one at a time as opposed to the three at once. It was taking too long and I was tired of getting yarns all tangled up. I am almost done with one and halfway done with the two. They are turning out way cute. Although I ended up casting on for a size small. I thought I had done the newborn but when I recounted all the wraps I had made the size small. They are a hybrid of small and newborn but that might be divine intervention there. Who knows? Maybe they will be the best fit for the babes. I need to finish them up and get them sent. I realize they aren't going to suddenly gain 100 pounds but I feel bad that they have taken this long.

I feel even worse over this latest Magic Ball swap on Mothering. When I signed up we were told we would move here and get into the house that day. Since then every possible thing has gone wrong and they have bounced us from hotel to hotel. My swapee has since sent my yarn to the address I gave her. I have no way of checking the mail there because they are apartment style mailboxes. Plus we aren't officially in there yet so it's kind of a in the air thing in regards to having mail there for us period. It's a mess. To top it off I haven't been able to send out my yarn. I have had the mama's address for three weeks now and I have yet to send it. I have talked to her and she's happy to wait but I feel horrible. I shoulnd't have signed up for this. :( I am tempted to send her a gift certificate to a store so that she at least can get herself something. Someone can only be patient for so long before they get irritated you know? This whole situation sucks and the longer it goes on the more I feel like it's one big joke.