Under the Chinook Arch

Office decor

2008-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

In November, my office space (which I share with two others) was renovated and graced with new furniture. Since I can no longer use the shelf over the heating units as work space I decided to do a little decorating. A nice basket of yarn. I have invited my co-workers, both knitters, to stroke the yarn in times of stress. It just makes a nice picture, well, and it relieves the stash storage crunch at home.

The red yarn at the end of the basket is my Christmas present from my ds. He picked it out himself. From the Red Neck Goat Farm near Calgary. Here is a closer look:

I've started my January socks for the Socks from Stash Club. They're made from Natural Dye Studio alpaca and silk in Amazon colourway. The yarn is really soft, but knitting up a bit muddy looking. This is three days knitting on the bus back and forth to work. Wendy Johnson's fingering weight toe-up sock with gusset, my favourite pattern. And these are my socks.

Black Hole!

2008-01-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well, that's what it seems like. I disappeared for the fall. Once Socks of summer was over, there wasn't the same need to blog. And work got crazy busy, as it usually does. September = new school year = utter crazy madness. Every time I thought I'd update the blog, something else popped up. So, my New Year's resolution (well, one at least) is to blog more often.

But I kept knitting and managed to finish 7 1/2 pairs of socks since June 2007. Should have finished the second Frogwarts sock for my dd while I was off at Christmas, but, well, I didn't. Stroked my now considerable yarn stash, did a bit of shopping, relaxed a little and started three socks instead. Ummhum. Prepped three toes ready to just grab one and take off with it. A variety of colours and textures. Got a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss from Pick Up Sticks' Christmas yarn exchange and started Nagini, a Harry Potter design, nice cably snakeskin. Perfect!

Finally started the Branched Fern socks after fussing for months about what to use. The winner is the yarn I'd originally picked: DG Confetti in hunter green. The third is a generic toe-up sock with some alpaca-silk yarn from the Natural Dye Studio in England. Soft, soft, soft and a bit furry. That will be my entry in the Socks from Stash Club for January and will be the bus sock, too.

I figure if I keep busy enough the long dark month of January will whizz by.

Reprieve ...

2007-09-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

Last Friday evening I found out that my friend's departure was delayed for a week. Good thing, 'cause I'd made a mistake and had to frog the heel flap of the second sock. Anyway the alpaca socks are finished and ready to give to her. Whoohoo!!

The Socks of Summer is ending tonight. The time has gone by very quickly. I've completed three pairs and have two partial socks. I've had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and acquired a significant sock yarn stash. So, although I didn't achieve all my goals, I'm ready to declare success! Sock on!

Will I make it?

2007-09-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

So, I'm down to the wire with this pair of alpaca socks for my friend. She leaves on Monday and I have one more pattern repeat before the heel flap on the second sock, but I'm going to try to finish this.

Another friend suggested that I give only one sock. That way the pair won't be worn out and the single could go into a drawer with a nice bar of soap or sachet and be a memento. Last resort, I'm thinking. But bright idea for using a single sock!

When I was practising the figure 8 toe, I used this lovely ombre Trekking yarn. During my holidays I decided to continue it and it's ready for the gusset shaping. I really like how this yarn knits up and how the colours work. It will be my bus sock next week.

Wave a bit of red-orange in front of me and I'm hooked!

Oh yes, I joined the Branched Fern KAL, too. I've had so much fun with the Campanuals, that I jumped in another lace sock KAL. It looks like such a nice pattern. Not sure what I'll use yet. Possibly some DG Confetti in a dark green. But I'll have to do more work on the Campanuals.

Yarn Goldilocks

2007-09-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

... looking for the one that is juuust right! That was my daughter's comment when I was fussing about what yarn to use for the Campanulas. Having discarded the pink Regia Silk after swatching, and starting one with some lovely Apple Laine in Cotton Candy and then rejecting that because it was a bit too thick, (bamboo needles have a lot of give!!) I was whinging on about my requirements. Humph! Kids give you no sympathy! Anyway, I took another look at the Regia silk and decided to go ahead with it and now have one sock completed to above the heel. Because I was on holidays, I spent some time learning Judy's Magic cast on and trying to figure out the short row heels. The cast on is truly magic and one I'll use but I'm not too sure about the short row heels. I'll have to practice more because these turned out kinda messy and lumpy. But lovely yarn to work with! I have some more in burgundy.

And I finished the Cotton Fantasy socks for my daughter. Too cool! Made them as close as possible. I want a pair too, now. Love the toe up method.

And corrected the mistake in the alpaca lace socks and started to shape the toe. Deadline is fast approaching and I have another week to finish the pair.

I told my friend I was knitting her socks and asked for her shoe size so I could get these to fit. She said an 8 or a 9. Dear friend, but what woman doesn't know her exact shoe size??? A little humour to disguise the fact that I will miss her a great deal.

Easily diverted and amused ...

2007-08-17T15:43:00.001-07:00

So I thought that I'd better try a toe-up sock before starting the Campanulas and cast on some Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy last Friday. I finished the sock today. I used Knitpicks steel needles 2.25 mm, a figure 8 cast-on and Wendy's toe-up sock with gusset. This sock went really quickly and it was such fun watching the stripes appear.

My daughter saw it early on and said: "Is that my sock?" Other than getting the foot a bit too long for her and having to frog it past the heel turn, it went fairly smoothly. Except this morning on the bus, the needles kept slipping out of the ribbing and into my lap! Aaarrgh! But just love the colours! Now for sock 2.

And if they don't fit my daughter, I'll have another pair of socks!

A pair at last!

2007-08-10T14:17:00.001-07:00

My Fleece Artist socks are finished! Grafted the toe of the second sock this morning on the bus. There are still a few ends to hide, but they're done! Not an identical pair since the two heels are slightly different and the second is slightly longer than the other. But close enough.

And here they are on the feet!

Last Friday I was going gung ho on the alpaca sock and made a mistake that needs to be frogged, so I put it down and started back on these. Now to fix the alpaca sock and carry on. Whoohoo!

There was a reason ...

2007-08-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

why I bought this Regia Silk yarn, besides the fact it was on sale! It will be perfect for the Campanula socks that I decided I couldn't wait to knit. And promptly joined the KAL

A lovely light rose, that should look very nice in lace. Which means another start! Hopefully this weekend. And this is not going to be a bus project! Luckily the alpaca socks are knitting up super quick.

And here's another pink that I couldn't resist:

May have to try this cotton/nylon blend as well for the Campanula socks. It's quite shiny. Hard to tell from the picture. Very shiny, in fact. So all my friends can start wondering what has come over me to choose these pinks, so far from my usual colour palette. Maybe the woolly fibers are finally affecting my brain.

So, I'm looking forward to a long weekend and some serious knitting!

Only a matter of time ...

2007-08-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

until I strayed from the staight and narrow (knitting one pair of socks) to starting another. Last weekend I realized it's only six weeks until my good friend and neighbour will leave to join her husband in North Africa and since I'm really slow at finishing a complete pair, I'll probably need all that time to finish a present for her. So I decided to start her socks, using a lovely alpaca blend in greens and purples that I got at the HWSDA conference in June. This yarn is from Alpaca Plus here in Alberta and is so nice to work with. The pattern I chose is Daisies by marie flyfly.

So here is the first sock just ready to start the heel flap:

This picture is a bit dark. It's really working up quickly and it's such an easy lace pattern that I've had no problem knitting on the bus.

And just to keep the Fleece Artist pair in mind, pictures of the finished sock and the one in progress (just ready to turn the heel)

First sock

2007-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well, finally!
I spent some time at lunch today to finish the first sock, following the Techknitting Kitchener stitch directions. Not bad. Not bad , at all. Maybe a smidge short, but I'm very pleased. Pictures have to wait for a camera. The second sock is already under way and hopefully won't take quite so long.

Tempus fugit ...

2007-07-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

and then some! I can't believe how the time has passed and I haven't updated this!

My Fleece Artist sock has come along slowly. Had an issue with picking up the gusset stitches, so it sat for a week. Started the second one though, since it was easier to take on the bus. But, then I went back to the first and have it ready to graft the toe. Yay!!! No pictures until later this week, but it looks good to me. My camera USB cable has gone missing so downloading pictures is complicated.

A friend and I went to Shuttleworks just south of Calgary on Sat. Ooooohh ... lots of good stuff! Got some Brown Sheep Wildfoote sock yarn, one skein each Jungle and Desert Grass to match the single skeins I got on sale in Cochrane a couple of weeks ago. Luckily matched the dye lot of the Jungle, but not the Desert Grass. It's close enough that I'll just do a sock from each skein. I'm much too lazy to do alternate stipes. Maybe a nice lacy pattern will work. Yesterday I got the Campanula for a Cure pattern from MezzoDiva after making a donation to her fundraising for breast cancer. Check it out. Nice!

It's been really, really hot here so I'm seriously thinking cotton for the next pair of socks.

Late

2007-06-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

The Socks of Summer 2007 KAL officially started June 21, but I'm just getting myself organized to post. I've started a sock which I have been diligently knitting on the bus, going from a bit of ribbing to the beginning of the heel flap this week.

This is a Fleece Artist merino kit that I picked up at the Hand Weavers, Spinners & Dyers of Alberta Conference in Red Deer June 16. A yummy red that I couldn't resist. Raspberry, I think. Balled it up right away, did a swatch and started knitting on the recommended 2.5 mm needles, only to discover I didn't like the loose knit, so ripped and started again last weekend on 2 mm. So now it counts for the KAL! But not sure if it will fit me.

Really like the bamboo needles. They're nice and flexible. I can easily dig out a tight stitch. They do seem a bit dangerous, though, when you're riding a rocky bus and wondering if you'll be impaled. And they don't make a sound when you drop them, either. Drat! Did that once and had to hunt on the exremely grubby floor.

Nice red yarn!

So the goals this summer are:

find a combination of yarn, needles and pattern for a sock that will fit me
try the toe up sock
try two circulars
make a dent in the sock yarn stash I've accumulated this spring

This is new!

2007-05-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

I never thought that I would start a blog, but this morning I saw the 2007 Summer Socks site and rushed in to set this up so I can join the KAL (or should that just be a plain SAL??) Recently, I've returned to knitting, which I did avidly until discovering cross-stitch 17 years ago. And what has caught my fancy but socks. Right now I'm in the middle of two different ones, technically experimenting with pattern and yarn, but since I'm a process knitter as well as a process stitcher, there may well be more on the needles than on the feet!