good-natured ribbing

I don’t seem to be doing a lot of knitting (or spending time at the computer) lately. My life has been filled with Halloween prep, minor sewing projects, and a bunch of little outings (here, here, and here, for example). We’ve had some pretty awesome fall days, so I’ve been enjoying them!

I have been working on the single sock that will be sent to a friend in a few days (she will finish the pair). You may recall from this post that I was having trouble decided what color to make the sock. I got to the point of turning the heel with both the green (lichen) and orange (amber) that finally decided to go with the green!! Thanks to everyone who helped with the decision.

I made a bunch of changes to the pattern including the number of stitches around, the cuff, heel, and toe. The lace pattern is the same as the original Baltic Socks. Because the stitch pattern makes a lovely scallop, I wanted to pick a cuff that really showed it. For this green sock, I went with a simple garter cuff. The orange sock has a picot cuff (pictures soon!).

The changes to the heel and toe were pretty simple, I used a YO short row heel instead of a wrap and turn – only because I’ve never done the wrap and turn kind. I didn’t think this was the time to start! I also used a YO short row toe with the grafting across the bottom (just like in my Twinkleberry).

All in all, I really like this sock! I like the freedom in sizing that it gives with the plain stockinette sides. I’ll definitely finish the oranges ones (though they may become a Christmas gift). And after all that, I’m feeling a little burnt out on socks. There are so many other options out there!!

I’ve been knitting, yes I have. Christina’s socks are coming along. I took a closer-up picture than the one below, but it came out too dark. I’ll add it later. Anyway, they’re Ribbed Lace socks from Sensational Socks. I’ve admired this pattern for a long time, and the yarn, something by the Great Adirondack Yarn Company, seems to be a good fit. It’s sort of knobby and has an interesting texture.

Here’s how Emily feels about the swap, in which she gets a new pair of extraordinarily lovely handwarmers for doing, well, nothing:

And what is that sock resting on, you may ask? The baby blanket I’ve been working on forever, which is coming to its natural conclusion. I didn’t do much with it during the summer, and in the 90 degree days of early fall. But now the weather is cooler here I’ve been enjoying it on my lap while I knit, and have been toying with the idea of just keeping it for myself–it’s just the right size for sitting and knitting… But, no, it must go on to a baby. To finish it, I need an i-cord of impossible length to sew around the outer edges, and then approximately 300 bobbles to pull through all the diamond intersections (look at the larger pictures to see the diamond pattern on the blue piece). So, maybe the end really isn’t in sight.

And, a pair of socks for me–made with gray Trekking–which gets me closer to my goal of 14 this year (that is, one pair a month plus two to increase the challenge).

Maybe a little. I’ve been seeing those cool favorited picture mosaics all of Flickr and didn’t know how to make them. Now I know.

If you haven’t yet, check out fd’s Flickr Toys for all sorts of fun things to do with your pictures. Mosaic Maker was used for the picture above.

So I’d gotten myself into a panic about this single sock swap deal. It was one problem after another. I decided to order some uncommon, can’t find it in the yarn store yarn. I settled on some fabulous yarn at the Sweet Sheep shop. Since they are in Canada and so is my family, I had it shipped to my dad. I had good intentions of going to get it as soon as it arrived (although it is a different country, it is less than an hour away – even with going through customs). Unfortunately, I ended up spending one day at the hospital while my husband was having his hand repaired. Then I had to go to Denver for a few days including the weekend. I couldn’t get over there! I ended up having my dad drop the yarn at Christina’s and she brought it to work for me. Lesson learned – have stuff shipped to Chrissy’s! Here is what I got:

The brown is for me and the orange is from my single sock pal. I had big plans for a fancy sock with tonnes to twists and cables: Dream Twister (seen here in Ravelry). A couple inches into the pattern, I realized that it was going to drive me crazy. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for this kind of sock. Shame… it is a beautiful sock.

The yarn was a bit thin for it anyway. I have a feeling that it would have been a bit sloppy on the twists.

Then, after two nights of pouring over Ravelry and every knitting book I have with sock patterns, I decided to go with Baltic Socks by Clementine’s Shoes. Although it isn’t the most complicated pattern out there, I think it is very elegant and lovely. Then, once I started the sock, I wasn’t convinced that the orange was right for it so I started up another one in a different semi-solid yarn. Now I can’t decide:

What do you think? Which one should go to my pal? I like the pattern so much, I might just proceed with the other for myself!

Well I’m finally good enough at knitting something that I’m not shy about exchanging knitted items. And so I was delighted when Sherry suggested a mutually beneficial exchange.

Here’s the gist of it:
Sherry likes to knit socks. Her daughter likes to wear fingerless gloves. Christina likes to knit fingerless gloves. Christina likes to wear socks. Christina hates to knit socks.

So we struck up a deal and Sherry even provided the yarn for Emily’s gloves! (I can’t remember what it’s called!) It is a lovely green/blue/brown yarn that is very soft. So I hemmed and hawed and started over several times. I finally came up with a design that I thought fit the yarn.

I call it “Forest Canopy”…

The design is based on a stitch I saw in one of the Stitchionaries (more details to come). Still in progress…only one glove done!

Many of you have requested that we start offering sock blockers at Knitzi.com. Now were looking for input into what kind of sock blockers are desirable. If you have ideas, please stop by the Knitzi Blog and let us know!!

Although I love starting new projects, I also really love finishing. So, I’m just pushing forward to finishing my current project before starting new ones. Right now, I’m finishing up Nutkin (a sock pattern I’m designing for Knitzi.com) and Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave Knits.

Nutkin is coming along. One sock is complete and I’ll be writing up the pattern very soon. Once I do, I’ll be randomly selecting one of my test knitter volunteers to help out. Very soon…

The Minimalist Cardigan is coming a long much more slowly but I did just finish the back! All of the remaining pieces will go much more quickly.

I’m leaving for a short trip today (to Denver) so I’ll get some knitting in on the flight and hotel evenings. That sock should be done in no time.