Getting Ready for the Ganseys

I'm nearly done with my Nanners and it's nearly August...so naturally I'm looking forward to the Diamond Gansey Socks for the Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry! All my stash sock yarn is self-striping and I knew that wouldn't do for gansey socks. Let's face it, I'm a cheapskate and even though I wanted a kettle-dyed yarn, I didn't want to go to the LYS to get it.

So last week was Coupon Commotion week at JoAnn. Armed with six 40% off coupons, I came away with 2 balls of Sensations Bamboo & Ewe in red and Red Heart Heart & Sole; 2 balls of Spring Stripe and 4 balls of Ivory - bring out the Crock Pot and the Wiltons!

I knew I wanted a kettle-dyed look and that was about all I was sure of. I didn't wait for the water to be hot before adding the yarn. It's superwash so I figured it could handle sitting in there. I let it soak some more in the plain water with some vinegar (I don't measure) because I didn't want the dye to have time to soak in all over the place and make solid yarn.

As for color, I pulled out Wiltons brown and burgundy hoping for something resembling fall leaves. I got orange. To make it a little more golden, I added several drops of McCormick's yellow. After I'd mixed the dye in my 4 cup measuring up, I dumped it in. I dumped it fairly evenly over all the yarn, but I didn't touch it at all or take too much care to get it all covered. I never stirred it, never disturbed it once. It soaked in extraordinarily fast so I let it cool, rinsed it, and hung it out on the plant hooks to dry. I think it looks how a kettle-dyed yarn ought to look.

I'm so excited to start the Diamond Gansey Socks!

Sock Mojo Rules the Day!

I'm so happy the sock mojo is still here. It's so fun! I'm having a great time with the Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry and frankly, still rather amazed that I am actually participating. Yeah it's only the first month I've done it so there's still time for me to fall on my face, but for now, it's all good.

Since I finished the On-Holds on July 25, I naturally figured "why not try to knock out some Nanners as well?" The Nanner Socks are the selected free pattern for July in the KAL. It's a great excuse to use the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Glenwood. I'd bought 3 skeins intending for it to be a shawl of some sort, but I now know I'm not a huge fan of small shawls. Plus, since the sock mojo appears to be unstoppable, why not use it for these? Even though it's multicolored, it's not so busy as to obscure the pattern.

Here's the progress photos...


Pattern: Nanner Socks, size M, 9” long, 6” or so cuff
Began: July 25, 2009
Finished:
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Glenwood
Needles: Knitpicks US size 2 (2.75mm) 32” nickel-plated circular (Magic Loop)
Mods: none
Toe: Judy’s Magic Cast On
Heel: Slip-stitch Gusset Heel as written in pattern
Bind Off: Sewn BO and Russian Bind Off

Comments: I tried the Russian Bind-Off on the first sock and I don’t think I’m a big fan. I’m going to go back to my favorite sewn BO for the next one. I adore this yarn and it looks really nice in the pattern. The sock is twisting a bit, but hopefully it won’t be a problem during wear.

Hey look - I finished something for a KAL!!

On-Hold Socks - Finished (1)
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits

I can hardly believe it. Typically, committing to something is a sure precursor to my abandoning that something completely, but that does not seem to be the case this time. Hooray!

These socks were super fun to knit. They caught my eye the first time I flipped through the book and I was pretty happy to find the KAL and have this be the sock for July. It was even more fortuitous that I had this lovely colorway of Patons Stretch Socks in my stash (Kelp). The pattern looks great and the fit of the socks is superb.

I couldn't ask for a nicer pair of socks!

Stay tuned for the Nanners. Nevermind that I started them a mere 6 days before the end of July; I'm still going to try to knock them out in time to be eligible for those prizes as well. Oh, I so want to win something...anything!

Yay more socks!

Ridgeline Master Socks (1)
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits

Hooray for sock mojo! Apparently I only have it in the summer. This is wonderful because they are great summer projects and I really do need more socks.

While I typically consider myself a process knitter and I do REALLY enjoy the process of knitting Cat Bordhi socks, I think the project knitter in my has a chance to flourish when it comes to socks. Nothing - besides dishcloths and clogs - gets used more on a day-to-day basis than my socks.

There really is something to be said for having a pair of socks that fit you like a glove. No floppy toes, no falling inside my shoes; it's really fantastic.

I plan to muscle my way through my comparatively small sock yarn stash and have a full drawer by winter.

Oh, and my mom asked if I'd make her some socks.

She's a woman's size 12.

Strrrrrrretch....socks!

Stretch Upstream Socks
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits

Several months back, Michaels had Patons Stretch Socks on clearance...clearance! Yes, I know it's not from a yarn store and it's not a high end sock yarn, but clearance? Clearance? I had to get some (ahem, 4 pairs worth).

But I wasn't sure how to deal with it, being stretch and all. Plus, I wasn't really in a sock knitting place at the time. But we're experiencing a few days of tropical heat and humidity, thus I am now very much in a sock knitting place.

Where to start? With the tried and true, of course. The Upstream Master Sock pattern from New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi.

The Pontoon Toe on the first sock came out a little loosey goosey because I was overly conscious of not overstretching the yarn, but I could easily fix that at the end with a spare length of yarn. After that, I just pretended the stretch didn't exist and knit like normal.

I think they turned out nicely. Because only I can expect to have freezing cold feet when the heat index is 100 F, I promptly put the socks on. They felt good and fit well but when I took them off, they looked like they might have become stretched out and loose along the sole. I think I'll hold off knitting any more of the yarn until I've washed these and worn them a couple times. Of course they need washing because wearing socks in my house is a sure sign that you will step on a blob of cookie dough - which I did.

The delay in knitting more of the Stretch Socks won't cramp my style, however. I have several more pairs-worth of regular non-stretchy sock yarn that is begging to be knit. I have a goal of a full drawer by the first frost.

All hail the socks!

A Pure and Simple Carigan

241 in Cactus (4)
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits

So I wanted a cotton-y sweater that I could make and take along on our trip to Orlando in May. Will I need a sweater in Orlando in May? Maybe, maybe not, but I stil wanted one.

I fell in love with the Knitting Pure and Simple Neck-Down Shaped V-Neck Cardigan (#241). I decided on Cotton Ease because I like the yarn and there were some new colors. Cactus looked like it was it. I mean IT.

'Lo and behold, Michael's actually had these new colors. Cactus looked a little different than it had on my computer screen, a bit more muted, but it was nice and I still thought that color was IT. I bought 6 skeins and went for it.

I used 7's and 5's, just like the pattern recommended, but has a slightly larger gauge than the suggested 20 sts/inch so I felt comfortable choosing my exact bust size. And since it only has the tie closure, it didn't matter even if it were a little smaller.

The knitting went fast and it was turning out lovely. Until I tried it on. And really looked at my face instead of the sweater. The color makes my skin go just enough green to make me look like I'm ready for the grave. This was really disheartening since I'd had such high hopes for this sweater. I put it aside with only a few rows done on one sleeve.

After starting - and loving - a February Lady Sweater but needing something more mindless for TV watching one night, I decided to pick up the Cactus Cardi again and get it over with.

Though I consider this pattern to be overall well written and without errors, I did have to make the same adjustment that many people have made - fewer decreases on the sleeves. The sleeves actually start out quite wide and decrease fairly rapidly to a size that would be too tight for most people around the bicep/elbow area.

So I did the sleeve decreases as directed in the pattern, but I did one fewer decrease for my size - to 48 stitches. I knit 10 rounds even, then did increase round/4 rounds even for a total of 3 times. Then switch to the smaller needle, do 10 rounds of seed stitch, and bind off with larger needle knitwise. Perfect just-below-the-elbow sleeves.

Now that it's finished and I've had a chance to wear it in the wild, the color is still not ideal but not as bad as I'd originally thought. Color aside, it is a FANTASTIC cardigan! I love it. It's light, comfortable, fits perfectly, and my sleeve length is perfect for me. Nothing to get in the way or have to continually push up, perfect for when I'm knitting or working. Perfect.

In every way. You should make one. I'm making another in dark brown.

Essential Tank

Essential Tank (1)
Originally uploaded by JRoKnits

Another chapter in the saga that is choosing the correct size...yet this one appears to be a success!

It's the Essential Tank from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. It is awesome!

I bought some Knit Picks Shine Sport in Violet from a fellow Raveler - 7 skeins to be exact. I don't even remember what I intended to make with it at first, but it couldn't have been anything that great. The yarn sat in my stash box FOREVER and was knit/crocheted/knit/frogged multiple times.

Until I got around to swatching for the Essential Tank, a design that really stood out to me in the book.

I labored over the decision of size. Now intellectually, I know that I'm really not overweight, but you see, I'm about 15 pounds over where I was even after my 3rd kid. This is disconcerting to me, hence I tend to fret over the notion that I'm much larger than I really am. Hence, I tend to make my sweaters and such much larger than they really need to be.

I'd already made Pink from the Custom Knits book and while I turned out great, it would have been better to knit it smaller. Yet at the time, I was utterly convinced I needed to make the large.

So I, with my 36" bust, thought I'd need to make this tank in the 36" size. Then I hung out on the Knit and Tonic Ravelry group for a while and read posts by Wendy herself saying that she likes everything with about 2" of negative ease and would recommend that for all the designs. That's just "how she rolls". I thought "you know what? That's how I roll too."

So I went with the 34" size. Turns out she knows what she's talking about and though I still would like to lose that 15 pounds, the tank looks pretty darn awesome!

The only problem is the neckline. I must have picked up the stitches a bit too tightly because there isn't a lot of stretch at the pick up line for the edging. I may rip it out, pick up the stitches with a larger needle, then reknit the edging with the smaller needle.

All in all though, I'd say this was a huge success!