Undulating Lacy Rib Socks

I started these a while ago. The pattern comes from a stitch encyclopedia and is called "undulating lacy ribs." It's lacy and it undulates but it's not ribbing. Let's not quibble with the name because it's a nice pattern.

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This is Berroco Ultra Alpaca Lite, which is very nice but it wasn't working out for this particular pattern. It has a repeat of 9 stitches and I really wanted to work the pattern over 54 so I wouldn't have to deal with an odd number of repeats and an odd number of stitches so I frogged them and used Madelinetosh Sock in the "Lichen" colorway instead. My camera really wants to turn this purple but it's mostly green with just a little bit of purple. The colors are more saturated than they appear here.

This yarn is a little heavier so 54 stitches in a lace pattern on 2.75 needles gets me the proper gauge for socks. It's not fuzzy so the pattern is nice and crisp, although that's not apparent in the pictures. I was enjoying myself so much while knitting these that I got carried away and started the heel flap before the cuff was long enough. I didn't realize this until I'd finished the sock and tried it on so now I have to rip it back and do another repeat of the pattern.

The charting for the top of the foot took a couple of tries but I finally got it right. It's worked over 28 stitches (3 repeats +1) so the foot is worked over 2 more stitches than the cuff but it still fits fine. Also, I have lots of practice so it should go quickly when I knit it the second and third time.

Chugging Away

I'm about half done with the Lily of the Valley scarf. It's a fun project to work on. The pattern is interesting and the fact that the yarn is fingering weight instead of lace weight means it goes quickly and is easier to handle. I'm also working on two pair of socks.

The first is a basic 2/2 rib in Lorna's Laces "Vera" colorway with some nupps for added interest. I've had this yarn for years but the first pair I started with it pooled in a most unattractive way so I frogged them and put the yarn aside until I could find a better pattern. I thought the nupps would break up the pooling but it hasn't really worked out that way.

The pooling is still very pronounced. The nupps add a little texture and create an interesting jagged effect that's more pronounced on the other side.

I can live with this as long as the other sock does something similar. Actually, I'm going to live with this even if it doesn't do something similar since I don't feel like ripping this and starting a third pair that will undoubtedly pool in an equally unattractive manner. I like the nupps and am already planning another pair of socks with nupps and cables.

Denmark Socks are Done

I love these socks. I love the colorway (Twilight by Lorna's Laces) and I love the pattern (Denmark by Nancy Bush). These are knit with Shepherd Sport.

Coincidentally, Jimmy Beans announced in their July 2010 newsletter that this colorway has been added to their permanent collection. Obviously, I'm not the only one who loved it. My pictures make the yarn look brighter than it really is. Purples are difficult to photograph. I took dozens of shots, indoors and out, but none were accurate. These are the best I could do.

The pattern is from "Knitting on the Road" by Nancy Bush and is a fun pattern to knit. It's a very basic cable pattern with 54 stitches cast on. There are nupps at the top of each cable. They're not really nupps; they look like nupps but they're easier to knit. I think they're an interesting design element so I'm using them to liven up some basic ribbed socks that I'm working on now.

Lily of the Valley Scarf

This is from "Knitted Lace of Estonia" by Nancy Bush. I'm using Schaeffer Anne in a near solid olive green. I think all the Schaeffer yarns have an official name but there's nothing on the tag. I've done two and a half repeats of the pattern and Boy Howdy, was that ever painful.

The border wasn't too bad but I suffered for that first pattern repeat. I kept picking up the stitch after the nupp when purling the five stitches together and not realizing it until a few rows later when my stitch count was off. Once I knew what was going on I was able to avoid doing it and the pace picked up considerably after that but it made that first pattern repeat one of the more frustrating knitting experiences I've ever had.

The pattern calls for 9 1/2 pattern repeats using a yarn that has 400 yards. The Schaeffer has 560 yards so I should be able to do at least 13 or 14 repeats, which will result in a finished length of about 60". The nupps don't really pop but I can live with that. They might show better after it's been blocked.

The border's very simple but works well with the pattern. This is a knitted cast on with the yarn doubled, which gives you an edge that is both stretchy and pretty. Now that the pace has pick up considerably, it should progress quickly. It's certainly nice not having to change yarns every other row.

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.