Um, hi.

I finished these Austermann Step socks in March:
I am currently working on some cotton ankle socks for which I learned a new technique, Judy's Magic Cast-On (for toe-up socks). I'm still thinking about trying some sort of lace shawl or scarf, but I've also been thinking about getting a haircut for months, and that hasn't happened yet, so....

I did try to write a blog post about a month ago, but this was all I had saved in the draft:

"What is up with the wall-to-wall couch in this picture? It's crazy! I think there's a built-in step. I also think it's depressing the dog."

There was also a link to an old Nirvana video and a comment about guys in dresses equaling the '90s. This came about because I was reminiscing over some old ("vintage") videos at mtvmusic.com.

Recent items from my kitchen:

• Wheat berry salad with fresh peas (and fennel) from Eating Close to Home: A Guide to Local Seasonal Sustenance in the Pacific Northwest (a recipe book that fails to provide any idea of how many servings the recipes make):

• Walla Walla onion rings--Very tasty, but I ate too many and felt a little sick, and the leftover oil is kind of gross. If I make them again, I'd like to try putting some smoked paprika in the coating. No picture because we ate them very quickly.
• Lentil, apple, and banana salad from Rosa's New Mexican Table--It's unusual, but I decided to make it because I liked all the ingredients and the book acknowledged the fact that it sounds weird. I plan on making it again for a potluck in a few days.
  

Heelless baby socks

I'd like my friend's baby to be able to wear handknit socks he won't immediately grow out of, so I made these baby-sized heelless (tube) socks (from "Knitting Vintage Socks"). Apologies for the crappy photo, but this is the only one I could get that showed the spiral ribbing.

Civil War socks!

On Monday's Antiques Roadshow (from Salt Lake City) there will be a pair of socks from 1861 up for appraisal. I've already watched the segment online. They're in great condition. And worth a lot!

Want to see my pool?

These photos are of the same sock.
I didn't see it before, but the two sides are basically negatives of the other. I suppose that makes sense. I'm not sure if the pooling is OK with the recipient. I can try casting on fewer stitches--the socks could stand to be a little tighter still. I could do that with the other ball of yarn and see how it looks without sacrificing this sock, but all my size 1s are in use. I am lazy and haven't finished the Harry Potter socks because I don't know how I want to bind them off.

I knit with someone who was knitting socks on size 0 needles, which I've never used. I asked her how many stitches around her sock was and was stunned to hear 56--or was it 52? Anyway, something in the 50s. She admits to knitting very loosely. I'll say! I've never used the yarn she was knitting with, but I would start with 68 stitches on a size 1.

Test knitting

I learned a new way to make short-row toes and heels, with double wraps a la Wendy this time (top in photo). This photo shows what I think is the uglier side of the wrapping method. The two sides of the YO method (bottom) look pretty similar to one another.

I started these socks but had to redo them because they were coming out too big (at 72 stitches cast on). So the Zen Yarn Garden cotton/lycra sock yarn is a bit thicker than the Greenwood Fiberworks. I'm trying 64 stitches now and it seems to be good. I took a photo of the new attempt but my camera ate it.

No food this time

Three entries in a row about food. It's time for some knitting. The socks are coming along nicely. I still don't know what's going to happen with the heels and the striping. It's fun to try on toe-up socks for a change.

I'll get back to my peekaboo mitts soon because those are my "normal" project for knitting get-togethers.

Erised

I'm excited! I will have to wait and see how the striping works out once I need to do the heel, but it's possible I'll decide top-down is better after all. Unfortunately because of the striping needing to be maintained I had to separate the yarn into balls of different sizes. One is about 10% bigger than the other. Eek!

Melissa, I think it's pretty safe to say these socks will stay with me. Dem's the breaks when you admit to hardly ever wearing socks. And you said I could keep them. And you know I will love them. But when you look in the Mirror of Erised, will you see the same thing Dumbledore did?

Short Rows + Picot Cuff = Toe-Up Socks!

GreewoodFiberworks sock yarn showed up at my door recently, and I thought that yarn in particular would be good for toe-up socks. I realized that I probably already knew everything I needed to know to make socks from the toe up: short-row toes/heels and the "provisional" cast-on also used in making the picot cuff. Here's my test toe. Now the trick will be knitting two socks at once, from both ends of the ball of yarn, so I can be sure to use it all without going over. I expect this will make me a bit crazy. I am contemplating using the scales at the lab to make two balls of equal weight so I can avoid a tangled mess.

Eh

I hadn't really looked at the Broadripple pattern when I thought it would be good for the Socks That Rock. Turns out, the pattern calls for a 56-stitch cast on with size 3 needles (and stretchy cotton Cascade Fixation). That's not really what I was looking for. I was happy with the way the yarn felt on size 1's with a 68-stitch cast on. I tried it, secretly hoping it would pool. The yarn and the needles weren't getting along, the garter ripple cuff looked crappy, and the stripes came out perfectly. It does look a little too big, but I can't be sure yet. I don't know if I want to keep it in this pattern, but I think I don't. There is a 72-stitch cast on version available from the author, apparently, but I'm not sure I want to bother. Plus, I found someone who tried it with my exact yarn and it pooled big time. See the plain column of four knit stitches down the center? That's the part that bugs me in nearly every striped Broadripple I look at. Can't really explain it. It's like I want there to be a point there instead of it being flat. And that makes me think I should consider another pair of Jaywalkers. I wore my one pair the other day and they are fantastic looking, but they just don't stay up as well as other socks because they're so inflexible. All this boils down to a big fat I don't know what to do.

Knitters don't watch Letterman?

Annie Modesitt is the only knitter I've seen comment on Letterman's disbelief that custom-made socks exist. I expected outrage, campaigns to send him handknit socks, but I guess knitters don't watch Letterman.

So there's a disturbing knitting of sexy underthings trend about. This thong (fourth from the bottom) looks downright comfy in comparison to this (crocheted) one. I swear, even the mannequin looks uncomfortable. That thing's gauge is four stitches per inch, y'all.

So, do I make a second sock with this cable or rip it out and try something else, like Broadripple, that might make better use of the color changes?

It's no fun to be woken up by a chainsaw two days in a row. At least this morning it was an hour and a half later than it was yesterday, and a few more feet away from the bedroom, too. Also no fun is forgetting how to do something you've done dozens of times before. I had to redo a heel several times but am finally back on track. One time I sat down to knit and couldn't remember how to cast on, which just made my jaw drop. I can't remember if I needed to look it up or if I remembered on my own.

This is Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR lightweight in Scottish Highlands. It is a very nice yarn. I see why so many people are devotees of the STR. It rarely splits or catches on the needles and is springy, soft, and buttery. It held up pretty well to me having to unknit and reknit the heel mumble times. I have a cable running down each side even though you can't really see it. I didn't want to do a plain sock but the yarn was too busy for much else.

I never posted a picture of the finished Fleece Artist socks, so here they are:I tried one of the Yarn Harlot's tricks on one of these socks. It's supposed to eliminate ladders but I didn't find it effective so I modified it to something that worked better for me. Once I put it on my foot, however, it gapped anyway.So I think the best option for me is to use more needles, which I was already doing.

Sock scam

If you haven't already, go read about a bank's stupid decision that a sock kit club must be a scam.

I have three skeins of BMFA wool sock yarn (all lightweight) purchased at last year's Black Sheep Gathering. Now may be the perfect time to finally try it out.

Clumsy

In the past ten days, I've bruised one knee in two different run-ins with semi-stationary objects, hurt my toe, and today I hit my head on the dining room table trying to pick up a jigsaw puzzle piece. I would love to sit on the couch in PJs and knit with Buffy on in the background, but I have work to do and don't really have a project I can easily jump back into. I finished my pink Fleece Artist short-row socks a few days ago. The only things I have on the needles are ankle socks I'm unsure I want to keep and my husband's sweater I haven't touched since...2001? Shall I say 2007 will be the year I finally finish that thing?

Here are some socks completed a while ago but not photographed: Knit Picks self-striping, TrekkingXXL, and Knit Picks Essential in the Orchid Socks pattern.

Christmas stuff and more

Here's what I'm working on now, my first picot edge sock with short-row heels. I've done short-row heels on cotton socks I gave away but never on wool and never for myself. There are heel gaps, but I think I can ignore them.

My knitting gifts were great: a Clapotis-style scarf, some LL sock yarn, and the Yarn Harlot's book. Also pictured (not a knitting gift) is a cute matchbook notepad with a squirrel on it that will be much better than the receipts I usually use when I'm out and want to jot something down.

These socks went to Virginia a while ago. Still love that pattern.

Feedback requested

I've decided to use Knit Picks Essential in grass for an urgent project: recovery socks for someone who is scheduled for surgery later this month. In my head, this yarn was slated for Embossed Leaves (IK Winter 2005), and that's one of my potential patterns for these recovery socks.

Look! These Embossed Leaves are even knit in the grass color. I'm not sure lacy socks are what I had in mind for recovery socks, though. I haven't knit this pattern before. Resizing instructions from the author mean the socks weren't the right size for a lot of people. I doubt that's an issue for me, though.

Other possibilities are

Retro Ribs (IK Winter 2004). I haven't knit these before.

"Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe" (sounds a bit like "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"; from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush). These seem just right for staying in bed. They are supposedly stretchy, so the fit would be easy to get. Gauge, however, I'm not so sure I'd get on the first try. The ribbing continues to the bottom of the foot, making these socks potentially unwearable with shoes, which may or may not be a drawback. Not too many people have taken photos of these socks. I think I only found one photo of someone wearing the sock, which looks very different on than off the foot.

As I write this, the Interweave site is down. "Knitting Vintage Socks" has corrections I need to check out.

Diagonal Ribs by Ann Budd (Interweave's website)
I've knit two pairs and like the pattern a lot. I could do these again with no problem.

So, let me know what you think.

Knitting, no kneading

I have completed one Fleece Artist sock but feel it's a little small. I can't decide if I want to just fix the toe or redo the whole thing. I kind of had a hard time finding the right needle size/cast-on number combo for this yarn. I did 60 stitches on a size 1. I also think I made it too long . It's a bit tight at the top (which is picot, can you tell?).I made the same bread everyone else in America is making (Bittman's no-knead bread). It was not without its troubles (sticking and requiring a baking vessel I do not have a perfect match for), but it's good, and I'm sure I'll make it again.

The crust is crunchy, which is one of its selling points, but my mouth can't handle a lot of that. Plus it's messy to cut (see crumbs above).

Short-row heels

Lolly, head of Socktoberfest, has linked to two short-row heel tutorials, both of which use wraps. I've never done it that way. I've used YO's a la the "Better than Booties Baby Socks" pattern (PDF). I tried to post a comment to her post with this link but it didn't take, so I'm posting it here, where no one will see it. Here are my first short-row heels. Yes, there's a hole in the right sock, but it was my first time, and I sometimes get holes on my flap heels, too. They don't bother me too much.

Just thought you'd like to know

I have 31 sock patterns saved on my computer. And who knows how many bookmarked in my browser.

This just isn't as pretty as the original. I'm going to complete the pair, though.

Extreme knitting is right!

I am guilty of sometimes reading only the patterns at Knitty, but in this most recent issue I read about knitting two socks at once. And I've decided that I could do it if I wanted to (I did knit a reversible double-knit hat for my mother), but I don't think I'll ever want to. It is crazy. I don't usually have a problem making a second sock, and I either don't care if they match exactly or manage to match them up pretty well separately. The progress when you're double knitting is slow, and I like to see as fast as possible how a new yarn or pattern is knitting up. When I knit the hat I used two different colors, but socks would use the same color, and that would make it very easy to confuse the two strands, which would just lead to unnecessary frustration. The article also mentions that guage loosens a bit when double knitting, and going down a needle size might be necessary. I already knit a lot of socks on size 1's and I don't own any 0's, and I don't think I want to. So it's been interesting to see what people can come up with, but I think I'll stick to one sock at a time for now.

Someone else's socks

These socks are beautiful. At the moment I have no plans to make a pair myself because they seem a little too complicated for me, but I'll probably give in to their beauty someday.