Travellin' socks

OK, I know I said that was the end of the travel pictures. But, it's Ruby Tuesday!

I started these socks on our road trip. It's amazing how much you can get knit while sitting on a beach watching the birds and the waves.



I think these are the most outspoken socks I've ever knit. This yarn is outrageous in its many splendid bright colors. The random striping is really well done and there seems to be only one regular stripe section. The resulting fabric reminds me of a Scottish tartan or maybe a lumberjack shirt. Sure would be easy to spot in the woods!

But, since today is Cinco de Mayo, these may just become Fiesta Socks. Worn with ruby slippers, of course.

New tricks

It's so much fun to learn new stuff! Like most people, I can be guilty of digging in my heels and trying to maintain the status quo. I do know that I always enjoy jumping out of my comfort zone - after the plunge. And, sometimes, I like it so much I keep on plunging. The cold water always feels warmer that way.

So, here I am, knitting a toe-up sock. Months ago, I downloaded a free pattern from Elann just in case I ever felt like trying. So, Becky's sock has changed. Frogging what I had cast on, I just followed the pattern. No drama; no pain. It's so easy and I think looks very neat. The real test will come at the heel. I've become so addicted to my short-row heels that I kind of made that a barrier to anything new. This pattern has short-row heels, too, so I may just have become a toe-up convert. My 'tried and true' sock pattern was a whole new technique to me 3 years ago. Why stop there?

I don't think Becky will mind and the socks may even fit her better. That's the real test. See? Old dogs can learn new tricks.

Withdrawal

All this administrative stuff is definitely giving me serious sock withdrawal. Last night I dreamed of beautiful lacy socks. They were bright green which looked way prettier in my dream than they do in my memory this morning. All the lace was complicated and varied. I doubt I could ever reproduce it. There were many different sections - all done in different lace patterns. I remember that they weren't regular sections and some were very swirly.

But the best part was that I was being tutored in how to knit socks on two circular needles by none other than Cat Bordhi! Since this is a technique I've never tried, I can only take the dream to be an omen of where I should go next in the sock journey.

Firsts

Since it's the first day of the new month it's appropriate to share a couple of firsts. I always enjoy knitting socks but none more than when I don't choose the yarn. So, when I was given some yarn and a request for new socks, I could hardly wait to finish the knitting in hand and cast on.

But, wait...there's a little challenge here. The new yarn is worsted weight and I'm not sure how far it'll go in a pair of socks. So, enter the pattern for my first toe-up socks. And the first time I've used my full set of 5 wooden dp needles. These are very plain socks although I think the coloring in the yarn provides enough texture. It's very interesting when you look up close. Lots of different greens from bright blue-green to a yellow-green.


Of course, as I'm working my mind is whirring. The colors in the yarn made me think of a Chinese screen made from carved jadeite that I'd once seen.

That carving did make me wonder if maybe some kind of surface design wouldn't work well in this yarn. Next time, maybe. The socks are cuddly soft and knit up really quickly. As long as they fit well and feel good, I'll probably make them again.

I remember when I first saw the jadeite piece, it had such a vivid green in it that I was reminded of the dessert that was served at every fancy dinner I went to when I was graduating from high school. All the award dinners were put on by the various service groups and each one had a dinner. Probably they were all in the local hotel but maybe some were catered by the hotel folks. Whatever, the dessert was always vanilla ice-cream covered with a creme de menthe sauce. Very violently green. My father refused to eat it as he didn't hold with eating food that was dyed green. That included green jello and ,of course, no green beer!

So, thanks, Penny, for giving me an opportunity, some firsts and a few memories.

Elizabethan revel?

I was playing with the idea of tucks the other day and wondered how they'd look incorporated into socks. Here's the result.

When you love words, there's a lot of fun in trying to choose an appropriate title for things. I like to name all my creations and that can take as long as it actually making the item. I mull over ideas, narrow the field and then go back an pick up discarded ideas. So, as I'm knitting the socks, I wait for the character to emerge.

At first, I thought the word 'chocolate' would be in there somewhere. The brown is more like the photo on the left. Kind of an obvious thought, though, and I like a little more complexity. And, the chocolate idea could be reinforced by the mint 'icing' and the varicolored yarn is the 'sprinkles' on the cupcake. Nah! That was way too long and involved. Talk about complex.

The tucks have a picot edge which gives them a frilliness and suggest a Caribbean party. Hmmm...then the brown could be rum and Coke - a Cuba Libre! As I worked on, that became one of the lower choices. I started thinking the tucks looked like the stand-up armor of a stegosauraus. And then again they reminded me of Elizabethan ruffs. Which idea, as you can see from the blog title, won the day.

My favorite reject is : I found my frill" . Now you know just how silly words can make you. No, no, it's not the knitting. That's completely serious. And I'm contemplating further tucking - it's great fun. I'm envisioning a side-to-side knit sweater with tucks of a contrasting color down the fronts. Or a dino sweater for Charlie with tucks on the sleeves. Could work.

Not so easy

The photos, I mean, not the socks.

I was trying to demonstrate that with a basic sock pattern and a few knit and purl stitches that anything is possible.

I wanted to have some stripes along the sides of these pink socks and I wanted something cable-y. I decided on two rows of a 2-stitch twist every other round with one strip beginning at the ribbing and the other a few rounds lower. The twisting on each was done on an alternate row so I was actually twisting - on half the stripes - every round.

The back was the tricky part to photograph. I don't know if my model found it hard to stay still or not but none came out really clear. This is the best. I also chose it because the color is perfect which is another hard thing to get right. The back has one stripe in the center and one lower on each side. I think that if I were to do it again I might continue the stripes into the heel. I was thinking of comfort in a shoe and figuring that it wouldn't be visible. But the design doesn't flow and I'm sort of not happy about that.

That's what photos do: show you the little things that you thought you could live with. And, of course, I would rather move on to new ideas than re-work one I've already done. So many stitches...so little time.

'Beauty' and the 'Beast'

Finished the first knitting of 2009! Is this an omen? Does this mean I'm going to spend the whole year knitting socks? Maybe, because that's what's on the needles as we speak.

I do have other plans. I do. The new Knitters magazine was pushed through the letter slot yesterday. As I've probably mentioned before it is not consistently full of patterns that I would want to make. I'm sure that would be a pretty odd knitting magazine. But there are so many interesting, challenging and just pretty patterns in this issue. Now, since these are all subjective words, you might want to just browse at the bookstore before taking the leap. I think there's a lot to this one and I'm mentally sorting through my stash putting together ideas for some of the patterns. I might even splash out on some new yarn!

And I'm also looking forward to the completion of their sock design contest. My idea of a sock design is to work within the boundaries of the pattern I always use. And since there are so many, many ways to use knits and purls I can be happy just as I am. All the sock designs do inspire me, though, to make that plain sock just a little bit more interesting.

And that leads right back to the 'beauty' socks. They are very plain except for the row of bobbles around the top of the ribbing. The confetti-like flecks of pink and purple are so subtle that I didn't want to detract from them at all. The yarn just kept quietly saying "little girl' and "spring-time"...how could I resist some little white ankle socks for Becky?

And I've had the black/white yarn from Upper Canada Village for over two years. And since I only used a small amount, it's still a yarn to be used. I have a basket full of knit slippers for visitors to the house who get cold feet. But the only pair of small ones were purple - with pompoms! And the traditional style doesn't really stay on little feet very well. So, when I saw this pattern I figured it could work. We'll have to see. The intended boy seems to prefer being barefoot - a preference I can easily identify with. I think the slippers are so very chunky and primitive looking beside the fine white socks that I called them the Beast. Not the boy who might wear them.

Drip, drip, drip

What a pleasant sound the melting snow makes. Not that it won't take ages to actually disappear but it's a start.

Since I'm kind of tired of talking about the weather, I'll move on. The rug I was going to have finished by Christmas is still waiting. I think I'm going to take apart the basting of the squares since it's not holding as well as I had expected. Usually, when I add a piece of burlap, I do a fair bit of zig-zag stitching. I was a little lazy - and in a hurry - so I didn't do as much as I should have. And it's hard to hook around the stitching so I was trying to solve a lot of problems at once. Haste really does make waste.

And today was the first day since the 24th that I've actually picked up the knitting needles to finish the little hat I was working on. Just too busy with parties, people and that which will not be mentioned again. I have an order for more socks since my niece really liked the Diamond Lace pair I made for her. And maybe some more mitts since they seemed quite popular. I also have an enthusiastic request for a cable 'sweater' tea cozy. So, pretty busy needles for the next few days.

Favorite DPN's

In May 2004, I bought my first bamboo needles in a LYS on the island of Maui. I had brought some knitting with me on the cruise but I'd almost finished and I knew that we still had several days before home. So, I decided to find a store and buy some yarn. Ooh... there was this fabulous rainbow-dyed sock yarn. And another with shades of blue. But, sadly, I had no sock needles. So, I splurged and bought the bamboo. That was one of the best buying decisions I ever made.

These needles have become my favorite and I knit almost all my socks with them. Then, last night, I was sliding them into the case and I noticed that they were much darker than the new set that I found a couple of months ago. I wondered how many pairs of socks it took to get that patina.

Now, most people would just guess-timate. But, I don't have to. About 5 years ago (long before Ravelry) I started keeping a log of every item I crafted. So, knitting, quilting, hooking, sewing - whatever. I think this was a way of justifying my retirement existence LOL But the habit stuck and I know exactly how many pairs of socks. On these needles I have knit 87 pairs of socks - 16 for kids - and one pair of mittens. Whew!

Now, the challenge is: how many pairs of socks is the life of a bamboo needle good for? I'm glad to have found the other set because I can make 5-needle socks if I want (hardly ever). My venerable set did have 5 needles but it got caught in something and broke. That started my quest for a WIP container so that I wouldn't run the risk of breaking others.

So, with care, I think I could knit on these needles for a long time to come. I think the points will probably give out at some time as they do show signs of use. But the wood is hard and I may have hundreds of socks left in them. Stay tuned.

Update

Remember the 50-cent yarn? It took a while but I came up with a suitable design. I was planning on keeping them for myself but Anne really liked them. What could I do?
The yarn is quite crisp for sock wool and the checkerboard pattern really suits it. I'm happy - even if I didn't get the socks.

Investment

No, this isn't about the financial meltdown or recession or whatever the heck is goin' on. This is the kind of investment that makes my frugal soul sing.

Yesterday, I chanced upon two complete balls of gray sock yarn. Socken Wolle is made by Max Grundl in Germany and is very nice for socks. I have knit with it before and I know it retails for about $6 a ball. That would have been enough for a soulful tune. But, wait -

One of the balls had been used and rewound. And stuck right in the middle were 5 bamboo dp's in the exact size I use for sock knitting. And...they were Clover/Takumi which retails for more than the two balls of yarn together. My own C/T set has reduced to 4 because one had an accident. I've only been able to make up a 5-needle pattern by adapting to four or using metal dp's. I really love my bamboo needles but haven't felt justified in buying a whole new set just for one needle. Now, I'm really singing at the top of my lungs.

With a few days knitting, I can have a pair of plain socks. A couple more days and I can have something a bit more adventurous. And all for 50 cents. See why I'm happy?