More Frogging and Ankle Socks

I frogged this scarf today. (See below for closeup.) It was knitted when I was very much a beginner. I had to learn the hard way that stockinette curls. I still love the yarn though - not sure of the exact composition but it obviously has some mohair in it. I am thinking about making a bunny or lamb out of it. What do you think? Can anybody recommend some patterns? Knitty Gritty featured a felted fuzzy bunny, but I'm not sure if this yarn would felt.

I completed the first ankle sock and am working on the foot of the second sock. I am very pleased with how these turned out. Hubby bought me some Panda Cotton-Blend yarn for my birthday and they are destined to be ankle socks as well.

Socks, socks, socks

L - this is the pair of socks I am making for you. They are turning out perfectly. I can really see the quality go up with every pair I make! See the diamond pattern in the closeup?It is kind of argyle-inspired.

Very beautiful merino wool - so soft! I am taking a little break from this heavy sock for now, in favor of some spring ankle socks...

I am in love with this yarn - the color, how it photographs, the weight, how it feels. I did my first short row heel, using the backwards yarn-over technique. It has been reinforced with Woolly Nylon. It's the first time I've reinforced the heel - really makes the fabric more sturdy! (The pattern for the heel wasn't exactly clear towards the end, so I kind of fudged it a little. It looks good, so I must have guessed right. Just hoping I can remember how I did it for the next sock...)

There's also a picture of the bag I'm keeping this project in - I confess to buying the rice because I knew what I'd use the bag for!

SIL and MIL - this is the yarn you got me from Christmas. Thank you sooo much.

The funny thing is I have about 5 more skeins of this, so friends/family, let me know if you want a pair of ankle socks in this color! :-) Maybe I'll actually make, *gasp*, something besides socks with it.

Frog Pond

I am working on two new pairs of socks. One I've got about 3 inches of the cuff done; the other I've got about a 1/2 inch of the cuff done. I'll post pictures after I've made more progress. I had to completely rip one of the socks last night because I cast on with 49 stitches, instead of 48. (I'm going to be doing a 12 stitch repeat.) I was seriously considering sneaking a decrease in, instead of ripping. In the end, I wasn't that far along so it wasn't too bad.

I'm just taking these socks slow, because I don't want to push my hands. I'm trying to keep it to 1 hour a night. That was the amount of time recommended to me.

Early feminism versus knitting

This was posted on one of my knitting groups today, and it's an interesting/poetic read.

http://taoknitter.blogspot.com/2007/03/oh-eliza-i-beseech-you-knit-no-more.html

These are the finished socks for SIL. They are already packaged up to send to her for Easter. It is the last of the purple color yarn that I have. (At the time of purchase, I didn't know how much yarn it actually took to make socks.)


This is the pretty cell phone cover I made. It is knit in the round. Halfway through, I bound off half the stitches and continued the flap. Then, I did some decreases toward the end of the flap. Cool, huh?

Mom, this is the book I bought for you to read on vacation.


Mom, this is the pink nailpolish I bought for us to use in Florida. It has really pretty iridescent specks in it that you can't see in the picture.

QUESTION: WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE THINGS?
(They are in my knitting bag, and I have no clue what they're for. I think they came in a "Teach Yourself to Crochet" kit, but I really can't remember that well.)

ANSWER:
(Thank you for the responses and kind messages.)
The consensus is that these are bobbins. You wind a different color of yarn on each bobbin. This way, when you're knitting with many different colors the yarn does not get tangled and messy.

I'm working on the toe for the second sock for SIL, so photos will be coming soon. Probably next week because hubby is going to run me around all weekend.

Here are some photos of socks that I've made. It's fun to watch my knitting progress.

The socks in the below picture were the first pair I made for myself. I actually made 2 pairs before these, but both were too short. So, I gave them away to people with smaller feet! This pair I was determined to make big enough. They are really probably 4 stitches too big, but I wear them over other socks. They are acrylic, which I don't think I'd use for socks again. They are very warm, but the acrylic can sometimes get sweaty. The colors have stayed bright, and they've held up great. The yarn was called Jiffy (sold at Jo Anns).

(Thanks to hubby for taking the photo of my feet!)

The brown socks were made for my hubby. (After watching me knit three pairs of socks, he was ready to enjoy some fruits of my labor!) You can see at this point I hadn't progressed to anything past a simple, plain vanilla sock pattern. I haven't made a pair of men's socks since! They take so much longer. :-( These socks were knit with Wool Ease. You can see that they are starting to get fuzzy, but that's partially my fault because I've washed and dryed repeatedly. (I'm going to start using better yarns and hand washing all of my handmade socks.)

Not Pictured: Beautiful green socks for my aunt for Christmas. They were knit following a broken rib pattern. It was the first time I followed a pattern all the way down the length of the socks. These really turned out nice...wish I had a picture.

The fair isle socks are the most challenging socks I've knit to date. Many firsts: first contrasting heel/toe, first salt and pepper pattern (heel), first fair isle knitting. One of the socks is tighter than the other, even though they have the same number of repeats. I think I carried the strands tighter in one of the socks. These were also knit with Wool Ease.

Obligatory cat photos:

(so precious)

Couldn't resist going back to Jo Anns (a different store though) to see if there were any different colors on sale. Jackpot! Love the blue. Hubby wants the neutral colors. I will do the solid as a contrasting heel. Maybe I'll try a short row heel. I'm becoming a fiber snob, because there was a bunch of acryl-ICK yarn on sale. No way!

I read on my friend's blog how they don't take pictures of their cats anymore, now that they have a baby. It made me so sad to think I wouldn't have time for my kitties anymore. I hope this whole baby thing will be worth it....

For now, I can take as many as I want. :-) The grey one is so photogenic! We love the orange one too, but he is hungry right now, waiting for his 10 pm feeding....so, he is not patient enough to pose for a cute photo.

Obligatory cat photo:

Poor husband was not feeling well yesterday, but we did manage to go out and enjoy the sunshine for a short walk.

This weekend:

Last weekend:

So exciting ...

I put all my yarn in the attic when my hands were hurting. Last night I had to go up there to bring some down, and I found some beautiful pink and blue wool I had forgotten about. I'm thinking about trying a lace pattern with the pink because it's lace weight. I've tried a feather and fan lace pattern with worsted weight before - what a disaster. I had to rip it. The yarn was too thick for the pattern to show.

Wow. I just spent about all evening trying to figure out how to read a knitting chart. I am trying to get into harder patterns. The Fisherman's Rib pattern I was deciphering wasn't really that complicated, but it took me forever to figure out that you are only supposed to repeat stitches that are not shaded, and stitches that are shaded are performed once. (Of course, my husband found the part in the introduction that explained this to me...smart a**). Then, I was looking on the internet for Fisherman's Rib, and that wasn't helping because it seems there are many different variations of the pattern.

So, now I have figured out the pattern. BUT, I don't think I like how the colors are coming together. I might just do a simple k3, p1 or k1, p1 rib so to avoid the messy look of the colors mixing.

Not sure if I can bring myself to rip it tonight though. At least I learned how to read a chart for next time.

For SIL, just so you know I haven't forgotten the beautiful coral 100% wool you got me for Christmas. Here is what I plan on making with some of it: http://www.knitty.com/issuesummer06/PATTfetching.html
I'll have to learn how to make cables for the pattern, so I guess I've been kind of saving it for when I am craving a good knitting challenge.


Purchases for today from Jo Ann Fabrics:
- Woolly Nylon.
Now that I'm knitting with 100% wool, it will be nice to be able to reinforce it. Woolly Nylon was recommended by the socknitters yahoo group. I was hoping to find it in transparent, but ended up buying some colors that I see myself frequently knitting with. I figure the black will work with most dark colors. Oh, and it was all on sale for 1/2 price!
- Paton's 100% Merino Wool in Harvest and Regency.
The yarn was also on sale for 2 for $8. This will probably be enough for 4 pairs of socks. I just couldn't make the leap to buy the $18/skein yarn I've been drooling over on the internet. Maybe for my birthday.
- Susan Bates Size 4 DPNs.
I needed a pair of size 4s to cast on for another sock project (not pictured yet). I really want to buy a pair of hardwood needles, but they're $20/set and, again, couldn't make the leap yet. Someday... I figured for the $4 bucks this pair cost, they will work for a while.


Progress on second sock for SIL. The pattern (see closeup) is called blackberry stitch. I got it from Knitting Stitches by Mary Webb.

P.S. You'll notice the quality of pictures in this post is much better. That's because I remembered to upload the photoshopped pics, not the raw downloaded pics. Duh!