Summer Knitting Time is Hard to Find

I'm far too involved in gardening and outdoor activities to get much knitting done these days. As soon as I get home from work, I throw on my exercise clothes for a quick workout, then head outside for as much weeding, pruning and watering as I can get done before the sun sets. Needless to say, this doesn't leave much time for knitting between sunset and bedtime, especially when I still have the usual "chores" around the house to do.

When I do have indoor time, I am still far too fussy to sit and knit. I haven't been able to find an engaging audiobook to keep me occupied and seated. Even DVDs aren't helping me get knitting done. As you can imagine, the Boy Sock is not progressing very quickly. I really need to get past the gusset shaping by the middle of July so it can be tried on by the recipient.

The latest issues of various yarn catalogs have arrived and even they have nothing to entice me into starting a new project. The only thing inspiring me to knit at the moment is the fact that my black socks are just about beyond the point of repair and wearing. These were purchased socks, so no great loss, but I really could use another pair of black socks to replace them. I think I have some dark charcoal gray sock yarn that would come close to doing the job. I do think I will need to try a different pattern instead of the standard 2x2 rib or the beaded rib patterns which are my defaults. Perhaps Monkey Socks or another pair of Zombie socks. Something fairly simple, but also new to me. I don't think I'm up to the challenge of Rivendell at the moment. (I am tempted to come up with a matching sweater or shawl/stole pattern to coordinate with/complement these socks, but that will have to wait until fall.)

The Fiber Lull Continues

It's not lack of interest, just lack of time. I don't like sitting still when I have so many other things to do. The list of just yard work is short--flower beds and a garden to weed and water, lawn to mow--but time consuming. If you add in house and pool maintenance, cooking, cleaning and running the Fiber Arts Bloggers blog ring, the end result is very little time to sit and knit. When I do find myself with time to sit and relax, I usually don't feel like knitting. I either read or figure out what I need to do next. With that said, I did get the heel turned on the boy sock, but that's it. I would like to get the first sock finished by the middle of July, but I don't know if I'll be able to manage that. I could add it to my To-Do list, but the list is already on the verge of being unmanageable.

Perhaps when things settle down in the yard, I'll have more to report. Maybe if I get a jump on the yard work, I will be able to spend some time hanging out in the pool and practice knitting while I float. Now I'm off to weed the flowers!

Knitting Plans

I have once again lost my mind, though at least this time I'm doing it well in advance. Last Christmas, the pink fluffy hat and Spider-Man hat for my niece and nephew were very well-received. I came across this pattern the other day and decided I really needed to make this sweater for my niece and nephew. It's a straight-forward pullover with some cabling and a stripe at the neck, hem and cuffs. My sister helped me pick out the colors. It'll be in dark green with cream and blue for nephew and pink with cream and blue for niece. I should cast on for them soon. I'll be knitting at a larger gauge than the pattern calls for, so some serious swatching is in order.

Boy Sock Progress:
I am halfway through sock number one. I started the heel flap. Haven't touched it in two days. The evenings seem to be getting away from me. About the time that I am ready to get some knitting done, it's actually time to go to bed. Of course, by that time, I'm also probably too tired to knit without mistakes.

The End of the Shopping Spree

My fiber shopping activities seem to go in spurts. I picked up three fleeces last month. Then I road-tripped back north and just *had* to stop by my favorite yarn store. (Actually, I really did need to go. I've finally decided to knit a male friend of mine some socks and thought he ought to pick out the yarn so that he might actually wear the finished product. Conveniently, he happened to be in the same town at the same time so he could shop with me.) In addition to the aforementioned sock yarn, I also picked up sufficient yarn for two pair of socks for me and also some royal purple lace weight yarn.

Now my purchasing activities will probably go dormant for another six months.

On the other hand, I have nearly finished my first Slippin' Stripin' Sock. Just finishing up the toe shaping. The toe of this particular sock is solid green, matching the cuff. I didn't think the hand spun merino singles would wear very well in the toe. With any luck, there will be sufficient green yarn for the second toe.

I really need to post some pictures. Here are some photos of the purchases:

The "boy socks". Just a plain 2x2 rib pattern in Trekking XXL. I really wouldn't have picked this yarn for SockBoy. I think it's pretty yarn, but much more brown and purple than I thought he'd select and he said he thought it was too boring!!

The yarn for me. The yarns on each end are a lot more purple than the photo shows, especially the yarn on the right. That's really a brilliant royal purple with nothing blue about it.

Knitting Motivation

On the Sock Knitter's list, the question came up the other day about how people motivate themselves to finish socks that you are no longer excited by. For me, I usually set them aside for a little while and see if the excitement or interest returns. Ordinarily I am able to maintain the excitement through the entire first sock. Once the first sock is done, I get excited about starting the second one so I can get a completed pair. That excitement usually lasts me through the end of the pair.

With that said, I do have slumps in my knitting activity. Right now I'm not terribly interested in sitting still to knit. That's got nothing to do with the projects themselves but with my brain. I'd rather be out in the yard digging in the dirt or mowing the lawn. If I could figure out a way that worked for me to weed flower beds *and* knit, I'd do it. I guess I'm a bit stir-crazy and just not interested in sitting around, even with a good movie on TV or a good audiobook or podcast. Heck, I can hardly stay focused on a single podcast that ordinarily would be very interesting. I get about 15 minutes into it and lose interest. Once I adjust to the longer days and nicer outdoor weather, I'll get back into my usual knitting/sitting time. Right now I'm gorging on time outside. (Of course, now that I've said that, today is chilly and rainy.)

The Collection of Half-Knit Socks

So, round 3 of Sock Madness is now completed. The next pattern comes out on Monday, I think. I still have only half of the first sock of pair #3 finished. For that matter I have only half of the first sock of pair #2 finished as well. Methinks there is a trend developing here. A trend in which I get a bunch of partly finished socks knit and then may or may not actually finish them. *sigh*

I am not going to carry the slip stitch pattern down the bottom of the heel or foot. I know the slipped stitches would make the sock thicker, but I think it would make them unwearably thick. I'd like to be able to wear these with shoes and I'm not interested in buying shoes just to wear with these socks.

Fleeces Have Arrived!
Mouse and Lacey arrived this week. There was more veggie matter than I expected since these were covered fleeces, but it wasn't the worst I've seen. I shook out both fleeces thoroughly before storage, which removed a lot of veggie matter and quite a few second cuts.

On Monday I'll call Carol at Hidden Valley Farm about the fleece she's holding for me. It'll be my fourth or fifth fleece from them. They do such a lovely job. Long, clean, VM-free fleeces that are a dream to handle. It definitely spoils you and shows you what superb fleeces are possible with proper management. I have also learned that a premium fleece is definitely worth a premium price.

Slippin' Stripin' Socks

The third round of Sock Madness has begun. I wound the balls last night. Of course, about the time I got the first ball wound I read the instructions and discovered that I needed to be able to knit with both ends of the ball. So I re-wound the first ball into a center pull ball. Oops! The green yarn (it really is greener than it looks against the blue background) is KnitPicks Shadow in Lost Lake. The white yarn is the merino handspun.

All I need to do now is figure out which color to call the "main" color and cast on!! I even have an entire weekend available for knitting! I got all my errands done on my afternoon off yesterday. Tonight I'm watching Charlton Heston at his best in Ben-Hur. Tomorrow I'll watch at least some of the Deadliest Catch marathon on the Discovery Channel, perhaps taking a break to clean the carburetor on my tiller. The weather is expected to be cold and it rained *hard* last night and this morning, so yard work is not an option/distractor. I might well get a pair of socks knit in one weekend!!

Since I'm officially out of the competition, I am going to modify the pattern somewhat. I'm not a big fan of K1, P1 ribbing. I think it looks sloppy, at least when I do it. The knit stitches are often very uneven. I'll sub K2, P2 or K3, P1 instead.

Out of Sock Madness :-(

Alas, I didn't finish my first sock before 20 other people in my bracket finished their whole pair. I did, however, rip it back to my error and fix the boo-boo. I've now decided to finish the pair, though I may not finish them right away.

Although I'm out of the competition, I am going to keep knitting along. I'm really excited about the next sock. It's going to be the lace weight one. I'm using one skein of KnitPicks Shadow in Lost Lake (a mossy green color) and some cream colored handspun merino singles. I don't know that I've ever used handspun for a knitting project before. I've mostly just stockpiled it. Now I need to wind the yarn into balls and I'm good to go!

In other knitting....
I did finish the first of the fuschia wool socks. It's a little roomy, but certainly wearable. These socks are a bit heavier than the usual fingering weight, but toasty warm and cheery.

The lace knitting bug is calling me again. I've been keeping up with MMario and his designs. I would like to knit Vkandis and Queen Anne's Lace (pictured). The former appeals to me because of the reference back to Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. The latter design appeals to me just for it's beauty and intricacy. I can't imagine how long it will take to finish. I just need to decide what color to make it. I have suitable yarn in bright red or in pale silvery-gray.

Reversai Progress

There isn't a whole lot to report. There is one space left in the Baylor bracket. I still haven't even managed to complete the first sock. I am still plugging away at it, but I sincerely doubt that I'll get a whole other sock done by the end of the week! I'll still keep knitting along during the remaining rounds and cheering on the other knitters, but I don't think I'll be in contention for the final rounds.

No pictures yet. I'll post one as soon as I get the first sock finished.

Half Of Reversai Sock 1

I'm not going particularly fast on this one. I'd be further along if the pattern had been released on the weekend, but things didn't work that way and I'll keep on chugging along as best I can. I think I messed up the pattern though after I finished the heel. I think I started the repeat with a knit section instead of a purl section. Oopsies. I didn't exactly look at the chart, I just knew that first section was solid rather than seed stitch. Sigh. This error will, undoubtedly, be something that I will notice, but nobody else will see unless I point it out (unless the observer has also knit the socks and is familiar with the pattern).

I don't think I've made a garter stitch, short row heel before. It's easy enough to do, but I don't know how it will fit. I had to pay attention to the turns so I didn't miss one, but I managed that ok.

Update April 4, 2008:
Waaah! As of 5:30 pm on Friday the 4th of April, there are 15 completed pairs of socks in my bracket. I'm barely past halfway through on the first of the two socks. I ain't gonna make it through this one as slow as I'm knitting, esp since I will be working on Sunday. Pooh.

Sock Madness Round 2!

I've started my sock. I pick out a ball of Sockotta (cotton/wool/nylon blend) for this pair. The feature about this design is that the socks will be reversible. I think it's a cool idea that merits some more study after SM2 is over.

In other fibery news....I made arrangements to purchase three fleeces today. All three are Coopworth. I won't be going to the Fiber Event this weekend, but didn't want to go another year without a Hidden Valley Farm Coopworth fleece, so I e-mailed the kind folks at HVF. Although it doesn't say so on their website, they do sell fleeces directly. Yay!!! I have now used up the last of my birthday/Christmas money *and* did my part to stimulate the economy.

Fuschia Sock Update

Still not finished, but making some progress. The next round of Sock Madness won't start until April 1st, so I could finish this pair of socks this weekend, assuming the yardwork doesn't suck me in too badly. Of course, having just looked at the weather forecast, it's supposed to rain all weekend. This might increase the odds of sock completion.

Mystic Light Shawl KAL
I have not yet cast on for this shawl. It calls for 850(?) yards of fingering weight yarn. The suggestion was color(s) that you would associate with light, be it the glow of a sunrise or the colors of the borealis. I'm sure I have an appropriate yarn in the stash and I ought to have a good look this weekend. The pattern is combining lace with cables and is a triangle shape, knit from the center neck to the point. From looking at what others have already knit for Clue 1, it will be very pretty.

Blogring!

Well, I've officially done it. I've now taken over the Fiber Arts Bloggers blogring. The previous owner, Joni, had a baby recently and decided that she probably wouldn't have time to manage the blogring on top of managing a new baby. She asked for volunteers to take over and I decided to go for it. Fortunately she left me some wonderful guidance on how to manage things. With any luck I won't botch things up too badly. I did manage to get a new blog set up for it. I suppose I ought to update the ringcode on my own blog page here. DOH! I did at least remember to change the URL for the ring's website, so that's a start.

Anyway, if you're interested, please consider joining the blogring! All you need to do is have a blog that involves fiber arts (knitting, crocheting, spinning, quilting, lace-making, embroidery, etc.), to include the ring code on the front page of the blog and to have at least one new post per month. The blog should be non-commercial. Certainly if you're a fiber-business person who is also blogging, that's great and absolutely welcome. No solely commercial blogs/sites, please.

Knitting Progress
I worked on the fuschia sock last night. Now that I'm about an inch away from the toe shaping, I'm wondering if I need to rip the sock back and start on fewer stitches. I was pretty sure that this yarn was fingering weight, but it's definitely heavier than that. (I have absolutely no recollection of even buying this yarn, never mind remembering what brand it is.) The sock is quite dense and a bit on the large side. The yarn may well bloom a bit when washed, however, so I'm reluctant to give up until this sock is finished and washed.

We have Zombies!

I'm done! I can knit a pair of socks much faster than I thought I could. At the beginning of the day, I was starting the heel flap (after I fixed my boo-boo). And now I have a completed pair of socks. I don't know that I've ever knit a pair of socks in a week. I also don't know that I ever really paid that much attention to how long it takes. It has always just taken as long as it takes. Anyway, there's the finished picture. It's a bit out of focus and doesn't show the pattern as well as I'd like.


The yarn is Wendy Sock Yarn that I bought several years ago. It took less than one ball per sock, but I started with a partial ball, so I couldn't tell you exactly how much less than one ball per sock. I'd use this yarn again and I'm already pondering what sock yarn stash will be turned into Zombies next.

Thanks to everybody for cheering for me!! I really appreciate that!! For those of you who haven't finished your Zombies yet, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

One and a Half Down!

I'm working on the heel flap, but I'll be ripping back a wee bit. You see, I got a bit off on the ribs. I accidentally switched a non-dropstitch rib for a dropstitch rib. This wouldn't be a bad thing except that the drop stitch I currently have shifts over to one of the sides of the rib and will actually run all the way back to the top of the cuff. Sigh. Fortunately I caught it now. I'm not even going to try to fix it by dropping down a stitch. The eye of the partridge heel flap would make that too much of a pain in the patootie. Anyway, I figure it'll take 20 minutes to rip and re-knit and I'll be back on track!! There are currently 30 people finished with this sock in my bracket, so I have only to beat 9 other knitters and I advance to round 2!! w00t!

One Down, One to Go!

I have finished the first of the Zombie Socks. I'll cast on sock #2 shortly. I still don't know that I won't get eliminated in Round 1, but I'm a whole lot more motivated to work on these socks than I was over the weekend. The knitting ennui is definitely over now. I'm really glad that the Baylor Ball Bands is a fairly slow bracket.

The pattern is very clearly written, though I did need to translate from 2 circs to 4 or 5 dpns. At first I thought the leg was a bit shorter than I usually knit, but now I'm not so sure. It's a stretchy stitch pattern with the dropped stitches. At first I thought it might be too stretchy and too loose, but it isn't at all. It fits very well. I'm very pleased with this pattern and will certainly knit it again.

Halfway Through

Well, halfway through the first sock, at least. The pattern is easy enough and I like how it looks. I'm just starting the heel flap. It's supposed to have garter stitch borders to the heel flap and I hate how that looks. The rules say I have to follow the pattern as written though, so I'll do it that way. I may end up ripping these back to the heel after Sock Madness is over to make it a borderless Eye of Partridge heel flap.

I'd sit and knit all day tomorrow, but I have things to do. Errands, cleaning house, laundry, etc. I think I'd be pretty aggravated if I just sat and knit all day. I get fussy when I spend more than about 3 hours sitting and not doing anything physical. Today was a frustrating/annoying day at work too, which makes it even less likely that I'll be able to tolerate sitting around. Perhaps a really hard workout first thing in the morning will help clear my brain of bad energy.

Anyway, the sock is going well. When I finish the first one I'll take a picture.

Sock Madness Round 1!

Well, technically it starts tomorrow, but the specs for the first sock were given out. The recommendation was for a solid or almost solid color choice and the specified gauge is 32 sts/4 inches. One tester used 100grams of Jitterbug and another used 1 skein of Opal Handpaint. I have two skeins of Wendy Sock Yarn in a medium gray. I can't wait to see the pattern. There will be 40 knitters advancing to round 2. I don't know that I'll knit fast enough to be among the first 40 finished, but I'll give it a whirl. It'll be fun, regardless.

Now I suppose I ought to finish the first of the fuschia socks so I can get my favorite needles freed up and ready to go. Fortunately there's a Tony Curtis movie on this evening! I've never seen The Rat Race before.

Rippage has occurred!

The Freedom Sweater is no more. I knit a swatch with size 6 needles and discovered that I liked the feel of the fabric at that gauge a whole lot better. I went ahead and ripped out the sweater this evening. I am keeping the neck at the original gauge (it's a funnel neck) and will pick up the stitches in the morning with the larger needle. Tonight I'm going to skein up the yarn I ripped out and wash it. This thing sat in storage for a while and smells a bit dusty. I want to make sure I've killed any critters that might be trying to live in the yarn. The last thing I need is to discover this sweater has become a snack.

I'm knitting the heel flap on the first fuschia sock. Now I just need to decide if I want to work on the sock or the sweater this weekend. Decisions, decisions....

Elegant Ribbing Socks Done!

I even wove in all the ends on them. I used several small balls of yarn in re-knitting the toe, rather than the largest of the leftover balls. This was more effective at using up the leftovers, but does make for more weaving in to do--my least favorite part of knitting after sewing seams. The socks fit very well.

Here are the details:

Elegant Ribbing Sock Pattern
Designed by Sword Queen

Pattern available via internet archive here.
Yarn: Froelich Blauband in a blue colorway with bits of green and light blue. It reminds me of the ocean on a cloudy day.
Needles: size 2

Sock Madness Supplies:
I have gone through the list and my sock yarn stash. I think I have everything I need. It's not the exact yarn called for in the patterns, but the same weight so I'm happy with that. I was hoping to not have to buy yarn. I may have some difficulty deciding which yarn or which color to use, except for the one pattern for which I have the exact yarn, but I can use stash. Hooray!!