That Didn't Work Out Well

My plans for spending my vacation knitting, that is. All sorts of non-knitting activities are now scheduled for my week off so the new plan is to knit socks until my sock yarn stash is down to a reasonable size or I can't stand knitting socks anymore, which ever comes first.

That Worked Out Well

I finished my socks with the graduated cables. They're very comfortable but a bit bulky because of the 3/3 cables so I'll only be able to wear them under boots.

I love the colors; different shades of dusty purples.

I'm going to use the same yarn in the Lichen colorway (greens with a little purple) for another pair of socks that use cables for shaping but not until after I've done some lace. I'm kinda sick of cables at this point.

Some Lace for Spring

It's hard to muster any enthusiasm for knitting wooly sweaters when it spring is just around the corner. I decided I needed a more seasonally appropriate project to work on and chose the Baltic Sea stole by Faina M. Letoutchaia. I'm knitting this in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the Logwood colorway. I'm also making my cabled socks with this yarn in this colorway. It's a good thing I like it.

It's an easy pattern to memorize and it knits up quickly, which is good because it's the perfect time of year to wear it. A wrap like this is great on chilly mornings that turn into warm afternoons and then back to chilly evenings.

Planning Ahead

The 2-ply 100% alpaca knits up at 7 st/inch on 2.75 needles. I'm going to use this for a modified (60 st instead of 80) version of the Gentleman' sock from "Knitting Vintage Socks" by Nancy Bush.

The Lorna's Laces sport weight knits up at 6.5 st/inch on 3.25 needles. I think I'm going to use this for a modified (60 st instead of 66) version of Kai Mei from "Sock Innovations" by Cookie A. I've already knit these so I'm still considering some other patterns.

The Madelinetosh knits up at 7 st/inch on 2.75 needles. I think I'm going to do something with cables with this but I haven't settled on a pattern yet.

I haven't knit swatches with the Louet Gems or Berroco Ultra Alpaca yet but I think I'm going to do something lacey with both of them.

I'm still undecided about what to use for the sixth pair; either the mystery grey or the Wildefoote. I'll swatch them first and then decide.

Shaping a Sock Using Cables

I've been wanting to try this for a while. When knitting cables, the gauge goes down as the cable crosses get closer together so I figured I could accomodate my "shapely calves" by starting with the cable crosses farther apart and moving them closer together as I move down the cuff. It seems to work.

Even though it looks like its a straight tube, the top is much more stretchy so when you put it on, it fits comfortably at the top and bottom; not too tight and not too loose. The cuff is knit with 72 stitches. The top of the foot will be knit with 36 stitches but the sole will be knit with 30 to accomodate the tighter gauge that result from the cables. I'll have to decrease the top by 6 stitches when I get to the toes but i have a couple of ideas for how to do that.

I think it looks nice when it's stretched too, which is always a good thing for socks.

...aaaaand Done!

Cabled socks made with a Piece of Vermont Superwash sock yarn.

The colors are beautiful. There are blues, purples and turquoises in there but my camera refuses to pick them up.

 

I wouldn't mind if it stayed cold a little longer so I could wear them a few times this winter.

The Mad Provisional Cast On Skillz Continue to Elude Me

The provisional cast on is an incredibly useful thing. I've always done it by holding two needles and a piece of waste yarn together and then making figure 8s with the working yarn around the two needles and the waste yarn. The loops around the waste yarn become the live stitches that you pick up when the appropriate time comes. It gets the job done but it's a pain in the neck if you're casting on a significant number of stitches and it lacks the WOW factor. The cool kids all do their provisional cast on by crocheting a chain and then picking up and knitting the loops on the wrong side of the chain. Then they "unzip" the live stitches by pulling on the open loop at the end. What fun! The thing is, I can never get it to work for me. I pick up the wrong loop or the chain gets twisted so it doesn't unzip nicely and I end up having to cut and then pick little pieces of the waste yarn out of the live stitches so it ends up taking longer then the figure 8 method. Stupid, stupid provisional cast on.

And the Nominees are...

From left to right: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Lichen, Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in turquiose mix (it's not turquiose; it's more of a sea green) and Louet Gems in Teal. These are all fingering weight and are all definites.

Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Forget Me Not on top, I-have-no-idea-because-I-lost-the-ball-band so I'll just refer to it as mystery grey on the bottom left and Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Logwood on the bottom right. These are all also fingering weight and are all solid contenders.

 2-ply sport in 100% alpaca from Winters Gone Farm on top and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Twilight on the bottom. The alpaca is undied. It's from Loki, who's very, very dark brown. (I met Loki. He's very nice. He let my kids feed him and didn't spit on us.) I mistakenly ordered the Lorna's laces in sport weight but since I'm planning on knitting at least one pair in sport weight, it's not a problem. 

 

I've decided to shoot for 6 pair. I'll be home for 11 of the 16 days so 4 pair seems kind of unambitious, especially if at least one pair is in sport weight. Also, I have a lot more sock yarn than I realized and one of the goals is to get the stash down to manageable levels. The next step is to swatch my patterns and figure out which yarns will be used for what patterns.

The Knitting Olympics

I didn't participate in the Knitting Olympics this year. February was a busy month and I didn't know how much time I'd be able to devote to knitting. I've really enjoyed it in the past. Having a deadline really motivates me but unlike a Christmas deadline, I'm knitting for myself so it's a little more relaxed and enjoyable. I knit Alice Starmore's Cornwall from "Fisherman's Sweaters" for the 2008 Olympics. I was on Team Starmore Junkies and we did a WIP down. I had about 2" of ribbing done at the opening ceremonies and was able to complete it by the closing ceremonies.

This is Berroco Ultra Light, which is a wool/alpaca blend, and was knit on 3.25s. It's mostly stockinette but the yoke is fisherman's rib, which is 1/1 ribbing but you knit into the stitch below. The result fabric is squishy and warm but the gauge is about 13 rows per inch so it burns up a lot of yarn and a lot of time. It's sort of like knitting lace where you spend an entire evening knitting and only knit about 1 1/2 inches.

It was a fun and ambitious knit and I enjoyed the whole process.  I wish I had been able to participate this year and have decided to do my own Knitting Olympics in April. I'm taking at least a week off and have no plans. My sock yarn runneth over and this seems like a good opportunity to make a dent in the stash. The plan is to knit 4 or more pair of socks in 16 days. I'll do some stash diving today and start swatching so I can get right to knitting when the "opening ceremonies" begin.