I Always Like to Try New Things

I'm knitting the Denmark socks on square 6" DPNs by Kollage.

These are 3.25s but I don't know how you measure that. According to the Kollage website, most knitters go up a size to get the same gauge but when I originally swatched this yarn (Lorna's Laces Shepherd sport) I got the same gauge on traditional 3.25s. It's true that you don't notice the squareness when you're knitting with them and they seem less inclined to slip than most aluminum needles. They're not as nice to work with as the Signature needles but they're also a fraction of the cost and I can buy them locally.

The points are quite blunt, which is fine for most projects but it would be nice it they also came in a stiletto point so you could use them for lace. They're also available only is US sizes, which isn't the end of the world, but it would be nice if they were available in all sizes.

Denmark Socks by Nancy Bush

This pattern is from "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shephard sport in Twilight. I didn't intend to order this in sport weight but I guess I wasn't paying attention and this is what ended up in my cart.

Turns out it works perfectly for this pattern, which only calls for 56 stitches cast on. For a pattern with cables, that's not going to work for me with a fingering weight yarn.

Love the pattern; love the colorway. I wish I could get more of it but it was one of the limited edition colors from Jimmy Beans (January 2010) and it's sold out. They describe it as "similar to Black Purl but without the black." I've got Black Purl in my stash so I think I'll dig it out and compare the two.

Whither Thou, Reading Comprehension Skills?

The kids are at camp for 10 days, which means I had a large bloc of uninterrupted knitting time today. I put it to "good" use by knitting, frogging, tinking and ignoring pattern directions. In spite of this, I managed to finish my Fair Isle socks:

They fit well, as they should considering the amount of time that was devoted to them. I put one repeat of the pattern near the toe:

There's lots of calf shaping since they've got no give at all. I cast on 97 stitches and decreased 16 so the foot is knit with 81 stitches. I included a seam stitch because I thought it looked better.

Having finished the Fair Isle socks, I thought I'd work on these.

That didn't go well; I had to rip all the way the back to the first pattern repeat and rework the cuff. I got down to the gusset decreases and realized I didn't have enough stitches for the top of the foot, which was a pretty clear indication that I should work on something else. I settled on the Lily of the Valley scarf by Nancy Bush, which I somehow managed to cast on correctly but didn't grasp the subtle but important difference between the phrases "right side" and "wrong side" and that's how I spent an entire afternoon knitting and had less done at the end than when I started.

Spectrum Scarf is Done

Here it is, being modeled by my cat. I don't understand why he seems so disinterested. When I was knitting it, all he wanted to do was sleep on it. Yesterday, when I was blocking it, he was facscinated by it and wouldn't leave it alone.

Maybe it's too warm for mohair. Or maybe he's mad because I threw him out of room while it dried. Sleeping on wet mohair doesn't sound that appealing to me but I'm not a cat. He certainly was miffed when I wouldn't let him.

This is 16 repeats of the color sequence (the pattern called for 12) and I have plenty left over. I knit it entirely in garter stitch because I don't like scarves that roll.

I don't know exactly how long it is; probably about 7'. It wll get plenty of use next winter but for now it will get put away so he can't sleep on it.

... Very Easily Distracted

While I swatching the Kidsilk Haze for the Viola cardigan, I was poking around in my stitch books (the "1500 Patterns Knitting Encyclopedia" by Pingouin and the 365 stitch perpetual calender that everyone one has) looking for simple lace patterns to liven up the cardigan and I found the Undulated lacy ribs stitch and thought it might work for a pair of socks so I started these.

It's not really a ribbing pattern and I'm not sure I can make it work for the top of the foot because of the zigzag aspect of the pattern but it's quite pretty and gives me something to work on while I avoid working on the Spectrum Scarf, which is now half done.

And after all that, I decided that the cardigan would be best in plain stockinette, as called for in the pattern.