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!!