Way-it-Was Wednesday

I made these socks from that same book, after I made the pair from last Wednesday. This was one of those projects where I used what I had in the house, and some of it is doubled sport weight. There is Lamb's Pride worsted in there along with some Patons and who knows what else.

Socker liked these too, but not as much as last week's.

Mad-It-Myself Monday, in which I discourse of various FO's

I have been thinking about other nice things I can put in with my secret pal's socks...(Why do I keep thinking of this knitter as my victim?) I also make jewelry as one of my hobbies.

Grumperina (No idea what her URL is, followed a link) gave a little prezzie of a nice shawl pin to whoever posted the 700th pair of Jaywalker socks. I liked the pin, and have been working with things like that, so between that pin, and the latest volume of a magazine I get every now and then, I made up the following pins. This first one did not photograph very well. I am pretty happy with it, but next time I would use slightly thicker wire, and hammer it more.

This next piece is based loosely on the one in the magazine. I did not have the right guage of wire, and I think I did hammer it too much on the left side there, but I like the way it looks in general, and will probably work on variations of this.



The very last one is actually the same design pin you just saw, made with a different bead. The second wire did not fit through the hole, so I just made the top part. It is actually kind of cute all on its own...




What do people think? So far I think the one in the middle with the green bead is nicest, so I am going to work with variations of that design for now... especially since I think with a bead that has a slightly larger hole, and just slightly larger wire, that one will work nicely, whereas for the other wire may have to be gotten from I am not sure where...

Hogwarts-sock-swap progress

Well, I got an e-mail from my secret pal, and have to e-mail her back. She got specially dyed yarn for my socks, and is talking about casting on already.

Yikes!

I have been dithering because first, I wanted to find out some things about what my person would like. I am probably over-thinking this, because I have never been in a sock swap before and of course want to make the most marvelous socks EVER for this gal, the socks that will just make her swoon with delight. Now I don't particularly like eating my own cooking because I am always sure everyone else's is better, but even I will take socks knitted by me - any old pair, even the RHSS ones. So I am pretty sure this woman will like whatever nice pair of socks I send. If I just get variegated yarn and make one of the pretty patterns that other people have posted links to, and which they are probably using...But NO, I feel I ought to transcend all former socks and create - the socks of all socks! The socks de resistance! The mastersocks!!!

So, someone save me from myself. Is combining cables in a particularly meaningful Hogwarts shape, a panel of lace with a contrasting solid panel behind it, and some color work too much for one sock to take?

*wanders off muttering "must check stitch dictionary, must check stitch dictionary, must check...

So I am supposed to be Wrenning, but, instead, I am whining and Luna-ing.

First, the Whine...

Why do companies make their expensive yarns in so many ridiculous guages? Are they figuring "no one else out there will have 16 and 24 37ths of a stitch to four inches, they will have to buy our fifteen dollar a ball #%$@ MWAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

I never use the yarn called for. It does not allow for creativity, for dash, for verve, for having a really good reason to curse when your calculations changing from the old guage to the new turn out to have been incorrect - it seems spiritually incorrect. And I am cheap. I am so used to being cheap that even when the yarn called for is cheap I am looking for something cheaper. Hmmm maybe I should have waited till I knew you all better to say that. Well, I was spoiled by Smileys early on in my knitting career.

And if I DID buy the same yarn - I actually do have some yarn sitting in the basement, waiting to be knitted up into a sweater from a book calling for that very same yarn, but I got it on sale - anyway, even if I do, I still have to get out the calculator. I am short. There is simply not as much of me between my nipples and my neck as the designers account for, even as the nipples start to sag... And there is also more of me between my nipples and waist than we were counting on, but not in a good way. So I can never jsut knit something. I have to adjust it and then hope it is not like the lovely linen bridesmaids outfit I made for my friend's wedding. My belly button was showing. In, I think, every picture I'm in.

Whine, whine, whine, etc.

Now part of the problem with Wren is that sweaters make me nervous, so it is easier to knit on the shawl in the really pretty yarn and let that sort of slide. Because for Wren, I have to take measurements. It has waist shaping. But I will force myself. I already bought two skirts to go with it...

Sometimes you win, Sometimes you lose.

Every once in a while you have an experiment that reminds you of the experimental nature of, well, experiments.

There is such a wide range of usable outcomes in fiber work that this is easy to forget. So you didn't get periwinkle - the lavender was just as good, in the long run. So, the yarn was lousy for socks - it made up into a fantastic shawl. As long as we end up with some usable object, I think most of us are pretty forgiving of the process.

Well, yesterday was one of those days when you just have to say "Negative research is still research" and go from there.

A year and a half ago a friend gave me a lovely ball of yarn she dyed with kool-aid in her microwave. It was, it turns out, Lion Brand Woolease, and I was amazed at how much color it had, considering that only 20 percent of the fibers were wool and could take the dye. I kept saying to myself that I had to try that sometime.

Well, last week, after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Allowed-Near-Wool (Also known as Lord Feltdemort) did his best on two pair of socks that had each been worn once or twice, I decided the time was now. I got a skein of Woolease in that creamy white color they have, and soaked it in water with a squirt of dish liquid (not lemon).




Next we poured on red dye and yellow dye. This was supposed to be for Worsted Weight Horcrux socks, so we were going for Scarlet and Gold, the Gryffindor colors. What we actually had was not nearly dark enough, it was not even as dark a what you see here, and I should have stopped at the first DROP that poured out and said "We need to get more dye." But you know, there was no more dye in the house, and I could not go out, so I forged on...




And this sad result, hanging on my porch, is the final product. I think that, on top of everything, my microwave is too strong for acrylic yarn on full strength - the texture seems off.

I am not sure any of the worthy yarn charities I know of would really want it, stringy and pale and lifeless as it is. It actually looks better in this post than in person. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Way-It-Was Wednesday

We've been chatting, my knitting firends and I, about the oldest pieces of knitting we have. I thought I'd share, on Wednesdays, pictures of some of the things I've knit in the past.

These socks were made in February 2000 from yarn I picked up in many places, from a yarn store that was going out of business to Smileys yarns to who knows what. They are mostly wool, with a few blends for colors. The recipient wanted bright colors. Said creature needs a name. We shall call it Socker. Socker really liked these socks, but has grown. I have no idea where the other one is.

The pattern was from a book of Turkish sock patterns, and when I find it I will give the particulars. I do recall that it was reprinted later with a different title. If you have that book, and I am sure you know which one it is if you have it, you can find the pattern easily - it is called hook or the hook.

The ribbing is synthetic. The dark blue at the top there is Shetland, I think, from a sweater I pulled apart. The gold is from the defuncto place, which had had it since '75, at least, or maybe '55 , for that matter. You had to see the lables. The bright orange was handspun and dyed with powdered drink mix, the blue, pink, and black are, I think, synthetic blends. None of it was regulation sock yarn. The pattern called for the afterthought heels.

The now-lost mate used all the same colors, but not in any of the same places, and that was deliberate. We wanted the socks to be as interesting as possible - at least, I did. Socker did go through a phase of wanting things to match, but it might have been before this. I've been wearing whatever two socks I can find clean since college, so fraternal twin socks don't bother me at all.

Hmmm...I bet Socker would like a larger pair now.

My questionair for the Hogwarts-sock-swap

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire


I'm
a Gryffindor!

I was told we’d get more points if I responded “with enthusiasm” and linked to the sock swap site. Well, here is the link: http://Hogwarts-sock-swap.blogspot.com

Or maybe they meant I should link there. Hmmmm. Well, maybe someone will tell me if I got it wrong. There is a link there already to take you here, although earlier today it was not working, but then, earlier that that I couldn’t get there at all. Mysterious place, cyber space.

And now for the enthusiasm…. I was thinking about Harry’s trip to Ollivander’s , and the various measurements the tape took, including between his nostrils, so I took a few extra measurements of my own.

What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Gryffindor! (Can’t you hear the Sorting Hat shouting?)

1. Shoe size?

Well, I am really an eight and a half triple E, but you almost never find that, so I just buy nines.

2. Foot Length?

The left foot is ten inches, and the right foot is – drumroll – Nine and Three Quarters! Like the Platform!

3. Foot Circumference?

Again, Nine and three quarters! Which would seem somehow to indicate that I have one square foot in there somewhere, but it really just looks like any old foot, but wider.

Now for the extra, possibly-useful-but-not-called-for-so-I-guess-it-is-totally-within-the-rules-to-ignore-them measurements….

Ankle circumference – eight and half on one leg, eight and three quarters on the other.

Circumference of leg nine inches up from ground – thirteen and a half inches.

Circumference of middle toe on left foot – two and one-eighth inches…

Don’t let these measurements scare you, because I like my socks to fit snugly, so if they are at least an inch smaller than my foot circumference, and possibly a little more, that is probably just fine.

4. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

This is a little embarrassing, because I usually knit with whatever I get at the rummage sales and so forth, but ones I have used and liked are:
a. Boye aluminum, seven inches, size one
b. Inox steel, 8 inches, for sizes below zero. I’m not sure I have them in zero itself. I wish they were an inch or two shorter, but that is how they come. (I have 0000, 000,00… when you get to one I think they are a little heavy)
c. I used to have one set of Addi grey coated needles in size 1.5 (It is the millimeter size between what we normally call one and what we normally call two.) Those were nice. I don’t like the bluntness on the single point Addis at all, though.

5. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? I would like to try the Knit picks needles. They are six inches long, and I could use a set of size one’s. I don’t normally like knitting with bamboo, wood or plastic, so I would really prefer metal ones.

6. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

7. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Yes.

I hope this is appropriate enthusiasm! I am busy thinking about what kind of socks I can make…