princessdeia

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 21st 2009
Filed under 101 Things, General, Socks

aka Socks the Rock Knit along….

I first about this knit along on the Socktopus Board on Ravelry and I fell in love with the concept rather than a normal KAL (one pattern and any type of yarn), this along only uses Sock the Rock yarn, with each person using a different colourway so you can see all the effects. I am using Thistle in Medium weight on 2.75mm needles.
 

The pattern is the amazingly simple Leyburn Socks, as Yarnharlot mentioned these socks practically knit themselves. With very little effort I have managed to nearly finish one sock.

I have started writing my 11 major (life changing) things to do in 101 days, I found a great support/encouragement group on Ravelry and it even inspired me with a few ideas for my own list (watching all the films in the AFI Top 100 list). Hopefully this weekend I will have a major push forward and achieve a goal or at least headway on something other that decreasing my stash.

January 14th 2009
Filed under 101 Things, General, Socks

I have to admit, I don’t use Ravelry to it’s full potential. Occasionally, I will test out a new feature (I am currently loving the twitter status updates), but there are tools I never use. I tend to just use the project or stash tabs, and the forums. This weekend I decided to export my stash into excel – all done with the one click. After adding a quick equation, I discovered I have six and a half miles of yarn!

As most of this is sock yarn and I am attempting to decrease this stash by mile, I figured four pairs of socks and a hat (mainly because of the cold snap in London this month) is about 1760 yards.

Rather than digging into my core stash, I opted to start knitting with my newest yarn acquisition, the Scarlet Fleece I got from my Sosesaswa pal. Speaking on Sosesaswa before Christmas, Jen set me an extra gift as part of the swap, a handmade DPN case, some needles and stitch markers.

October 6th 2008
Filed under General

It seems Autumn decided to arrive last week… Along with the falling leaves, grey skies and rain… Autumn seems to have helped my find my knitting mojo! Of course all knitters know October means Socktoberfest, as seeing as I have still to finish my first Ravelympics socks, what better time to catch up on some sock knitting.

The interesting addition to Socktoberfest this year has been Through the Loops‘ Mystery Sock. I have always wanted to join on of the mystery knit-alongs but always seem to discover them too late or fear that I will end up with a shawl I will never use… But a sock seems so simple.

Each Wednesday I new section of the pattern will be posted on Ravelry, so far only the cuff has been published, I think the pattern will be best worked on circular needles two socks at a time – but I am planning on knitting them on DPN’s - but still knitting both socks within the week.

Of course, the best thing about Autumn is all the new programmes returning to our screens – more reasons to stay at home and knit! So yesterday, whilst watching Fringe I cast-on and completed section one of the first sock.

August 8th 2008
Filed under General, Socks

For the past month the buzz on ravelry has been all about the Ravelympics… When, it was announced on the socktopus board that they were putting together a team, I had to join in, I have decided to compete in two events, the Shawl Relay and Sock Put.

So this afternoon, whilst the thousands of athletes walked into the Birds Nest, I began to knit, casting on one sock and the shawl – although I have to say casting on 5 stitches for the Forest Canopy Shawl was pretty easy.

July 30th 2008
Filed under General, Project Spectrum, Socks

I seemed to have missed the boat a little with this element for Project Spectrum, I did manage to cast on some grey and white socks over a month ago… I started off amazing well knitting the leg whilst out with the Westenders Knitters. However since then SSS has set in.

I took this photo a few weeks ago but never got around to posting it… Originally, this plant was meant to be for the window sill but slowly it has grown and now it is taking over our flat roof. The flowers are now turning into wonderful little chills – they are still very small but some are turning red.

May 26th 2008
Filed under Finished Projects 2008, General, Socks

Yarn: Knitwitches Sock Yarn in Lavender Sunset.
Pattern: Pomatomus from Knitty.
Needles: 2.75mm.
Notes: With my first pair of Pomatomus socks I suffered from SSS, even though I loved the pattern, this time around they knitted up amazingly well.

Published with wonder of WordPress, whilst I am away.