Slow Motion
Here’s another video of me knitting, this time slowed down a bit so that you can actually see what I’m doing.
Essentially I do all of the work with my left hand; move the stitch onto the righthand needle, use the forefinger and thumb of my left hand to swivel the righthand needle around and grab the yarn, then remove the stitch from the righthand needle with a kind of rolling/flicking motion. It is surprisingly quick and efficient.
I was working on my handspun socks in the video, which are just about to the toe:
I’ll put the toe on them tomorrow. For now, I’m doing some swatches in worsted weight acrylic to try to put together a stitch pattern for a sock I want to design, which will be in this yarn:
I’m very excited and I hope it works out the way I want.
I can haz new project?
Thanks for the comments on the socks. I really don’t have anywhere to wear them but they just make me so giggly and happy whenever I look at them that I definitely consider them a success. Someone asked me why the heck I would knit socks with laceweight, of all things. My answer is that 1) I could be crazy, but 2) I don’t consider Merino Lace to be a true laceweight. Here’s a comparison picture:
From top to bottom: Knitpicks Shimmer, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Karabella Merino Lace, Koigu KPPPM, and Knitpicks Gloss. So it pretty easily falls in with other sock weights, really. And lest you think that it would take forever to knit a kneesock, the second sock took me all of four days, from cast on to blocking.
Meanwhile, every time I finish a project I seem to get some sort of startitis, with my queue calling to me and design ideas spinning through my head. But my WIP/UFO list is also pretty long, so I’ve decided that I need to do one of two things before I can cast on for something new: I either have to finish a sweater sleeve
which, you’ll note, has been restarted again, this time flat. It probably seems totally counterintuitive to knit the sleeves flat when the entire rest of the sweater is knit as one piece to minimize seaming, but I just don’t think the pattern will work any other way. Oh well. It’ll be a good opportunity to improve my mattress stitch skills, woefully underdeveloped as they are.
Or, should I choose option number 2, I can finish this handspun sock:
Normally I’d be all over finishing the sock up, especially since I’m halfway through it already, but while the yarn softens up so nicely after a soak, knitting with it is not the most pleasant experience. Also, I’ve discovered that I hate short rowing on DPNs. Talk about a pain in the arse, that’s annoying.
I will say that I will forever hold these socks in high regard though, because I took them with me when I went to a show on Friday, and look what I got:
Vienna was very confused, but very nice about holding my sock for a picture. (The show itself was amazing. You should go check out her music. It is goodness.)
The cats are getting along a little better… I think.
Or maybe they’re both just distracted by the birds.
Blue Stocking(s)
These are very, very blue. I am very, very fond of them. And very satisfied by them–apparently there was a knee-sock shaped hole in my life, begging to be filled. These fit perfectly.
I only used 60 stitches on the foot and main part of the leg; I also skipped the first part of the increase chart and worked the second part of it twice. I incorporated ribbing into the final repeat of the calf, and then put in some ribbing at the top. I’ll chart this up if anyone’s interested; it makes sense in my head because I know what I did but I realize that it probably just seems vague to anyone else.
Pattern: Lacy Cable Knee Socks by Susan Gutperl
Yarn: Karabella Lace Merino, 2 skeins
Needles: US1.5/2.5mm addi turbos
Rav link: here!
(photos courtesy of my friend E.)
Zoom!
I suppose the best way to avoid second sock syndrome is to cast on right away and then work as quickly as possible to finish it.
I should have this done by Friday, which means that I can get my talented photographer friend E to take pictures of ’em when she comes over to hang out. Excellent.
Not that all the stocking-knitting stopped me from casting on for some handspun socks.
Improvements
I have to say, I love you all but I’m very glad I didn’t listen to you when you said not to rip back the blue stocking.
Because it is so much better now.
Now all I have to do is… knit the matching one. Boo. Maybe I’ll go start a stockinette sock…
More awesome things
I got my knittyboard spring fling SP package yesterday, and holy cow you guys. the knit’s meow is blogless but she is the most wonderful spoiler. Have a look at my haul:
This stuff is sooo soft, and such gorgeous colors.
Some handy cascade 220, with a side of cat hair (cat hair provided by me)
A huge skein of habu fingering/laceweight! This is like a big giant cloud of yum.
Some Rowanspun 4-ply which came as a pillow kit, but I think I might commandeer the yarn for some Fiddlehead Mittens, especially if I can find some of the same yarn in natural or grey.
And lest you think that the entire package was yarn, it was actually full of other goodies, too! There were gluten free treats, two sets of KP harmony DPNs, a sheepy tape measure!! some cute DPN holders and point protectors, and two awesome books that I’ve been lusting after for a while:
I’m so excited to play with all of my new goodies that I can barely bring myself to look at my current projects. But… look I must. I finished the cotton socks and then forgot to snag an FO photo before mailing them off; I’ll post a link once they’re posted on the company’s website.
I also, well, ripped back a bit of my blue stocking, just like I said I wouldn’t. (A word of warning: undoing a sewn bind off is a huge pain. Avoid whenever possible.) I think if I had already completed both of them the same way I wouldn’t’ve had a problem leaving it be, but I can’t bring myself to knit a second sock with the same errors and problems, and they do kinda need to match. So I’ll fix it; shouldn’t take me more than a day or two. (Also, re-learning to knit on DPNs is a strange endeavor. But I kinda like it.)
The cats? Well. The cats are at war. Every day Velocity pushes a little further into Kitty’s territory, which she valiantly tries to defend:
But some days it’s just too much and she’s forced to abandon her post.
Oy.
Today I have polished over a hundred pieces of silver, carried up the stairs at least fifty dishes, scrubbed every corner of every room, knit like mad, done four loads of dishes in the dishwasher, and couldn’t even get in a shower due to the aforementioned dishwasher.
Tomorrow? More cleaning. And cooking. Some laundry if I can get to it. More knitting as well.
All so that fourteen hungry and drunk people can fill our house on Sunday and spill things on our freshly laundered tablecloths. Wake me up when passover has, well, passed over.
The cotton socks continue at a rapid pace, since they’re due back with the yarn company by next Tuesday; this means finishing, washing and blocking them tomorrow and making a dash to the post office Saturday, if I can escape for even a moment.
And since I have nothing else of knitterly interest to show pictures of, have a video:
(You’ll need to tilt your head (or your computer screen) a bit.)
This is how I knit (although usually with less awkwardness and more efficiency; it’s hard to knit around a tripod). I thought for a long time that what I did was the ‘flick’ method, but have recently learned that I do something completely different. I’m sure there’s a name for what I do but I haven’t found it, and until I do I officially call this weirdness ‘the Jesh method,’ just as my good friend spin’s purling technique is ‘the spin method.’ (Of course, if anyone knows of an actual name for this technique, please do tell.)
Awesome things from awesome people
I have no knitting to talk about. But I have knitting-related things to talk about!
I sent DO some alpaca scraps that I had lying around for some certain fugtacular alpaca lounge pants and I got the return package yesterday, which included the following:
which are SO appropriate for me. I’m wearing them right now. And the pompoms at the top are bunny heads.
And!! The coolest part!
How fantastic is that!? I feel so special 😀 Hee hee hee.
And the lovely and charming Sandykins RAKed me with some KP harmony tips and some fantastic candy, which I don’t have pictures of because my room’s a mess and I’m too lazy to go hunting right now.
That’s all I’ve got for the moment. I need to go knit ’til my hands fall off so that I can get some stuff done.
Busy day
Yesterday, that is. Words (and pictures, since I forgot my camera) fail to accurately describe the fantastic time I had last night at a certain Bobmas Eve gathering last night, so I’m not going to even try. Instead I direct you to the TsockTsarina, who has a fantastic recap and a picture of me defending a worthy prize.
I feel I need to tell the story of how I gained said prize to defend my (admittedly already rather tarnished) reputation. You see, we had a yankee swap, which is all well and good, but I realized as I pulled my number that I was essentially land-locked, at my seat, and getting up and around people to the table with the gifties would be an issue, especially with my tendency toward tripping and falling and generally being a klutz. So as my number (19) slowly approached, I tried to put together a battle plan. I could get someone to grab something for me… but that would just make me look lazy. So, heck, it’s a yankee swap, I might as well steal something. I was eyeing everyone else’s goodies, thinking that nothing was calling out to me, when #18 went up and grabbed a rather plain looking package. But something wonderous was in that package: a bag handmade by the fantastic Helen (who really does know everything). So of course as I saw her unwrap it all I could think was, “Yeah, I’m going to be stealing that.”
In my defense I did not expect to hold onto that bag for more than five seconds, let alone for the rest of the evening. I also had no control over the fact that poor #18 (of course I can’t remember her Ravelry name) went up to select again and got… fun fur. (Although others at the table were laughing because apparently she herself almost contributed fun fur to the swap.) Still, my attempts at subterfuge (*puts bag under the table* What bag? I didn’t see a bag. What color was it? Hmm.) and deception (No seriously, wouldn’t you rather some yarn? I mean the bag’s nice and all, but…) apparently paid off, because this baby is mine. 😀 Along with the goodies inside: a couple of handy needle gauges, some good ointment and a shawl pin. And, the get-together garnered over $200 for Ravelry, which, in case you haven’t heard, made it into the black just in time for its first official birthday. Best Bobmas ever (although we hope to outdo it next year!)
I got a fair amount of stuff accomplished there and while on the train; I restarted my jacket sleeve
and started a sample/test knit for Kollage Yarns, a pair of socks in their new cotton sock yarn:
I must admit that while I normally stay away from cotton yarns due to my hand/wrist issues, this stuff is pretty good. The fabric that it’s creating is lovely–definitely the soft, almost powdery feeling I associate with good cotton. With any luck these socks’ll be done by mid-next week sometime.
Oh, and before I forget, I was tagged for two memes, one being ‘six word memoir’ and one being ‘seven weird things about you.’ Let’s see if I can’t combine the two:
1. Loves road trips–in theory, anyway.
2. Always talking too much or too little.
3. Avoids fruits and vegetables whenever possible.
4. Once broke her nose while knitting.
5. Two first names; goes by neither.
6. Wishes for the energy to wander.
7. Still searching for the perfect phrase.
Too lazy to tag others. Play if you want.
Onto…
lots and lots of other things. I’m knitting up a storm in an attempt to clear some WIPs before I start some other things that I’m desperate to get to.
So I’ve got one blue stocking down:
and I love it. Absolutely adore it. It fits perfectly, mostly because I changed the pattern a lot in the calf/cuff; once I finish the pair I’ll write up the mods. I’ll get better pictures once they’re done, too, and let’s not talk about the contortions I had to go through to get this one.
(Looking at it now I’m wondering if maybe I should’ve tried to squeeze a third repeat into the back panel. Hmm. Perhaps I’ll block it and frog back if necessary… no. No. That is crazy talk. They’re fine the way they are. I have other things to knit. Must not rip back a day’s worth of work just to be a perfectionist. Must. Not.)
No sweater jacket progress, still, although I’ve been working on pattern grading. I’m hoping to get back to the knitting part of it this week, though.
In other news, the cats have officially been introduced.
This makes life… interesting.
Jeshknits 