Tag: socks

The Unfinished Sock

The Unfinished Sock

I bought a travel camera awhile ago – a Canon G7X Mark II – and am playing with it. I am trying out the different modes. This is one of the earlier photos after I just got it, and then I reduced the picture to black and white, not aware that there is a B&W mode in the camera. I want to get comfortable with the camera to get it to do what I want it to do when out and about in strange and exotic places.

I have some really good cameras – but I don’t want to have to change lenses or stay limited to one lens on a range finder. The G7X Mark II was the one I chose after looking at a bazillion digital point and shoots as I can actually set priorities (ie aperture, speed) or go totally automatic or totally manual.

And, it fits in my pocket.

Fly Away!

These are my second pair of toe-up socks, and I will say that I was very pleased with them. You can find the pattern on the Patterns page.

I’m not sure if I am a toe-up convert, but at least I don’t hate them (toe-ups) any more!

I got very frustrated with Publisher – if you delete pages, it sort of blurs 2 pages into one in a .png file, and when using Adobe to make the PDF, it was a mess. But, that got fixed . . . v 1.1 ten minutes after the upload! Sheesh!!

Toe Up Socks Redux

Even though I have been writing about scones and ink, as well as rambling, I have been knitting.  I finished a project that sort of took shape one day when I was putzing around.  Unbelievably, I did another pair of toe-up socks, and was very pleased with the results.  They were very easy to do, to design, and fairly quick knitting up, even though I was using US 1.5 needles (though you could use a US 1 or 2 – 2.25 to 2.75 mm) and knitting at 8 stitches per inch.

My very first pair of toe-up socks was a major headache, and I really hated them.  So, I called them Albatross Socks* – from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  Because these were such an astounding success, I named these new ones Fly Away! – and the pattern, and sock yarn, made me think of birds and a bright, blue sky.

Project Inventory

Today is nearing the end of the spring break.  The weather has been wonderful, with a day of rain to clear the air, and sunny days with wind and fair skies.  The trees are budding into leaf, the birds are making love songs, and the squirrels, well, are going nuts.

And in the middle of all this, I have managed to get a grip on things, meet up with people for lunch, read a bit, knit, and think about (but not do) some gardening.  I have a fig tree and plum tree which need attention, a vine to move, and so on.  And a lot of knitting projects.  When I have time to play, I like to begin things.  But do they get done?

Owls

All I need to do is sew on the buttons – but I made a mistake in the darts so, rip it or not? This is a pattern by Kate Davies at Needled.

Buttoned Cardigan

Only a few inches left on the sleeve and I am done. What’s taking me so long?  This is a cardigan by Eva Weichmann, owner of Eva’s Needlework in Thousand Oaks, CA, which I’ve mentioned before.


Top Down Beret from Hell

I’m beginning the decreasing toward the brim . . . not soon enough!

Hat in Design Mode

I found an issue here – bobble placement. Back to the drawing board.

Golden Autumn by Lucy Sweetland

Just a gorgeous hat, but I got sidetracked.  Lucy is one of my favorite designers and photographers.

Gloves

One hand down, another to go.

Mittens in Design Mode

Out of my Cascade 220 stash.

The Relentless Scarf

So boring I can’t stand it.

Socks

Lots of socks.  Too many.  And this is not all the inventory, either.

Socks to be Ripped

The yarn is from Riihivilla in Finland, naturally dyed with cochineal and indigo.  I’ve decided that the yarn is too pretty to hide on my feet, so now all this is sitting on my desk while I reconsider how to use the yarn to show it off.

Victorian Lace Shawl

Nearly done. It’s been sitting on a shelf for two years. I don’t know what is taking me so long, but I think it will get finished pretty soon.  It is a beautiful yarn, perfect for the pattern, and the colors have a lovely iridescence.

What’s a girl to do?

Yikes! Stripes! and Sumi-e

Anyone who has knitted stripes in the round knows that there are problems where the two colors meet.  There are all sorts of ways written up about how to avoid that “jog” that shows the color joins.  Oddly, I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube demonstrating how to do it!

Circular Stripes

Meg Swanson and Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote about how to do a jogless jog.  Judy Gibson has a very good demonstration on how to accomplish it, including pictures with different colored yarns.  I thought I was doing it correctly when I made the Fish Hat, but didn’t – the stripes were more than obvious.

Here, then, is my take of the Jogless Jog:

  • Knit one complete round of new color.
  • Before knitting the first stitch of the next round, use the tip of your right needle to reach into down into the stitch below the first stitch of the next round, and pull the right side of that stitch up, and place it on the left hand needle.  This means (as far as I can tell) is that you pull up the stitch one row below the next stitch, and slide it onto the left hand needle.  You then knit these two stitches together.

Something to note is that a diagonal will occur, according to Judy’s site.  Take the time to read it in detail, and look at the pictures.  It’s a very nice presentation.

Yikes! Stripes! Socks

The other day in a prep class for the CBEST, I started these socks at lunch. The yarns are KnitPicks Palette in a rather tomato-soup red and a Noro sock yarn that varies from hot pink and orange to brownish stripes. I am alternating five rows of Noro with two rows of the Palette. It is because of the stripes that I researched a bit more into how to avoid the jog.

As always, TechKnitting comes up with an excellent and detailed description of avoiding that stripey jog.   Knitting-and.com has a bunch of other ways to avoid that jog.  I decided to try this method for my sock:

In circular knitting:  when adding a new color or stripe, prevent a jog at the joining point by lifting the right side of the stitch below onto the left needle and knit it together with the stitch.

Right now, the jog is not obvious in the color shifts, and is really badly photographed, but as the colors begin to shift, the stripe change will be more obvious, and I hope, more hidden.

Striped Sock Gusset

I am also at the gusset of my Thockies (for want of a better name).  I am not pleased with the way the stripes are proceeding, and so am debating about what to do.  I think what I will do is rip it out to the point of picking up the gusset stitches.  I picked them up in alternating colors, but what I think I need to do is to pick them up in a solid color, even if this means making a bit of a mess with attaching and / or breaking yarn.  Then, on the second round, I will begin the alternating colors for the stripes, and decrease using the same color all along the gusset.  I am also considering using the Dutch heel – as I know it – so I will not need any gusset decreases whatsoever, but can simply knit in stripes without a problem.

Sumi-e

I have not had the time to do any painting at all! It really bugs me. I planned to do some during the holiday season, but unfortunately, so much got in the way! And again, my weekends are devoted to credentialling. I am soooooo tired of school and work! I’ve had to drop my Japanese class, I cannot find a time slot big enough to paint and relax, and on and on and on. No Chinese painting class, either. Well, given that, once I take the CBEST, I will PAINT and make some more videos . . .

Wah!