princessdeia

October 13th 2009
Filed under General, Socks, socktopus club 2009

Sock knitters all know October means Socktoberfest! This year is no different, my aim this year is to try and finish all the socks I have on the needles and take part in the TTL Mystery Sock. Not too big a task, I was working on August’s Sock Club, and just had to make a partner for my p/hop sock. However, I forgot that the next instalment of the Sock Club was due (I will post about that soon – it is truly an amazing package), so of course I had to cast that on!

Then I hit a snag with the Scadenza, one of the joys of this pattern is the continuity of the pattern, the waves are carried from the toe to cuff, then new waves are started on the base of the foot carried over the heel and onto the leg. When I joined the back and front instead of pretty waves, I ended up with some lovely waves and one rough. Jason actually named it the drunk wave!

So I frogged the pattern, started again, then I notice I have dropped a stitch whilst frogging, so had to rip it back again. Third attempt, the drunk line once again appeared!

So this time I sat down with a pen and paper and drew the pattern as I saw it should be, realising I had no idea what I was doing, I scanned the chart and got to work in Photoshop linking the charts from the front and back. After about a week of this I discovered the pattern was meant to look like this, with the drunk wave.

Of course I was not content with this idea, when back to photoshop and eventually re-drew the chart on graph paper to insure I had all sober waves. So my sixth attempt at the pattern with the help of photoshop, pen and paper and had one completely lovely sock.

September 17th 2009
Filed under Socks, socktopus club 2009, Stash Enhancement

Before going away on holiday I popped into Socktopus to see a few of my favourite knitters. It was also the day Alice was getting the sock club parcels ready so it gave me a chance to pick up my yarn and goodies (there were two lots of bells and whistles to make up for last months parcel).

Your eye’s do not deceive you that is some lovely skein of Wollmeise, on an exclusive colourway. Now I have to be honest I hadn’t yet cottoned on to the whole wollmeise craze, I seem to always miss the shop updates, I have not yet had a chance to fondle this yarn or seen it knitted up… so this was a real treat for me. After a bit of knitting I have to say I get it, smell and all!

Also included was an amazing Zigzag Stitches knitting bag, this is a tiny version perfect for carrying around sock knitting. I adore her stuff, I have added a few bags and a sock and go needle case to my birthday wish list. Finally, there are the lovely mini Russian doll stitch markers by Atomic Knitting.

Whilst I was there Kat was knitting an amazing cardigan in lace-weight so when I was fondeling the yarn I saw this cashmere yarn, I knew it was screaming to be turned into a lovely cardigan.

Subject:	02Babaa City attacks ﻈ 4ậđ ŴờÌғ
Sent:	on 17/09/09 at 06:16:10 am
Attacker princessdeia from the village 02Babaa City Troops 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Prisoners 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

July 16th 2009
Filed under Finished Projects 2009, General, Socks, socktopus club 2009

So a few weeks ago we all awaited the arrival of our shiny silver parcels aka the Sock(topus) Sock Club! Inside was the most amazing yarn dyed by Theyarnyard I have to admit I am not a big fan of red – but I love this colour,  it reminds me of poppies (the photos don’t do it justice). Also a simple yet unusual pattern by Ysolda (I am a big fan for her beret pattern so was looking forward to this months instalment).

It took me a while to understand how this pattern was going to work as it omitted the short row for the heel, rather than ponder too much about the construction, I got out my needles and knit and knit and knit! With in no time I’d completed the sole and the heel magically appeared.

In no time I was wearing my socks! .
More photos here.

June 8th 2009
Filed under Finished Projects 2009, Socks, socktopus club 2009

Finally, I have finished, my sock club socks! The actual socks took no time to knit, it just took me ages to sew all the vines, pods and flowers onto the sock.

My only concern with the pattern was the lacy parts in toe – I was worried this area might stretch or become weak after washing and wearing, so I extended the vine down over the lacy part for extra support. I am thinking of doing the same thing on the heel as this can be a stress point on some socks I have knitted in the past.

More photos here.

June 4th 2009
Filed under Finished Projects 2009, General, Socks

Over the past few year, I have been knitting my sister a pair of socks for her birthday. I thought I wouldn’t bother this year, but then my sister hinted she was looking forward to the socks. So with 8 days to go I set about the task of knitting some socks.

21st May – Skein.

27th May -Progress.

28th May – Finished Socks.

May 3rd 2009
Filed under General, Socks, socktopus club 2009

I guess it is always I bit of a gamble when signing up to a sock club (in fact any related knitting club), that the yarn will be to your taste. However, I figure I have enough people around me that I could “gift” the socks I didn’t like colours of to.

Of course the other side of this gamble is that you end up with a parcel that is to your exact taste! That everything included is very you. That is what happened to me with the second instalment of the Sock(topus) Club.

First off this amazing yarn – which is in “my colours,” the yarn is amazingly soft and a dream to knit with (in fact I am hoping to score some more of this yarn to make a larger garment).

Next the pattern, at the moment I seem to be into extremely lacy socks, I think it is getting ready for the summer or something. I have enjoyed reading Loumms’ blog for a while and love the ideas of the Year of Socks however, I hadn’t had the chance to knit one of their designs yet.

Finally, the bells and whistles. As I mentioned I love reading Loumms blog, and I was intrigued by their idea of “Grow Your Own Soup.” I only started gardening last year but loved my chilli plants from last summer, I wanted to try growing something else on my little windowsill.

April 16th 2009
Filed under General, Socks

Remember way back at the beginning of March I mentioned a KAL… well as hard as I tried I just could not finish these socks in the 31 days! In fact I only just managed to finish one sock by the 2nd of April.

When I tried the sock on, I realised it didn’t fit. The foot was too wide, the heel was too tight and I couldn’t get the sock past my ankle. I decided to set the sock aside and wait for my Sock(topus) Club parcel. But then fate stepped in as I had a long tube journey, so I picked up the sock and headed out. I am pretty use to knitting on the tube, however frogging was a new experience, although no one said anything, all the looks I got were shock!

I was making the 9 inch versions on 64 stitches, I ripped back to the heel, re-doing the short row on 38 stitches (I thought I would leave the foot a little baggy). Once I got to the heel I amended the pattern to add some extra stitches into the pattern (adding an extra 8 stitches).

Amendments are worked in the extra ribbing on the side of the pattern, starting on row 1 or 9

For size 9.0″:

Rnd 1 : k1, p1 * p1, k1, M1
Rnd 2: k1, p1 * p1, k2
Rnd 3: k1, p1*  p1, k1, M1, k1
Rnd 4: k1, p1 * p1, k4
Rnd 5: k1, p1 * p1, k2, M1 purlwise, k2
Rnd 6: k1, p1 * p1, k2, p1, k2
Rnd 7: k1, p1 * p1, k2, p1, M1 purlwise, k2
Rnd 8: k1, p1 * p1, k2, p2, k2, p2, k2

* See pattern for details.

March 2nd 2009
Filed under Finished Projects 2009, Socks

On Ravelry this month has been dubbed “Malabrigo March,” a chance to explore all the wonderful yarn produced by Malabrigo. Since Alice started stocking their sock yarn last autumn, I have collected a nice little stash.

On the Socktopus Board, we are having a mini malabrigo sock yarn, we selected a few patterns, then after a vote we decided on the Vinnland pattern. There is now a rebellion group that is knitting the Hourglass. I have opted to stick to the original plan and knit the Vinnland in Indiecita and hopefully if I have enough time I can cast on the Hourglass in Violeta Africana.

February 26th 2009
Filed under General, Socks, socktopus club 2009

I finished the first installment of the Socktopus Sock Club, my Om Shanti (or Bagpuss) Socks, I am so unbelievable happy I managed to get the yarn to swirl, it actually looks like a candy cane.

One of the reason I was keen to join the Sock club (apart from all the yummy yarn) was to learn new techniques and even challenge my knitting self. On the surface this sock looked pretty simple not challenging at all, and it was until I got to the rib… The pattern called for a corrugated rib (worked with two yarn) and I seemed to get in a complete mess – in fact I ripped the rib three times on the first sock and only once on the second!

I made one alteration to this sock, adding several repeats to the leg to make the sock longer. I followed Alice’s instructions for a wider leg on the extra repeats to insure the sock fitted on the calf.

January 28th 2009
Filed under Socks, socktopus club 2009

Last Friday I met up with Alice, Trisha and  Arianna for a trip to the Houses of Parliament and girly lunch. It was a  chance for us all the have a mini London meeting of the Leyburn KAL. Arianna took this amazing photo to see all the different variations of the one pattern – I love the fact two are knitted toe-up and two cuff-down. Even though I had only completed the toe by this stage, you can clearly see range of colours.

I had also arranged with Alice to receive my first Sock(topus) Club parcel (yes my first silver shiny packet). The pattern is the Om Shanti Sock designed by Alice herself! The yarn is Evolution in an exclusive colour (Peppermint Cheer), and the extras are a mini pedicure kit from the Rocky Mountain Soap Company (Canadian just like Alice).