fo1: unst redux

the first finished objects for 2012 are the lovely unst socks by nancy bush

this is my second attempt at these socks. i messed up the pattern AND sizing the first time and then messed up the yarn (spud and chloe fine in ‘shitake’) when trying to rip back. but i wanted to do them so much because i had initially started them as part of a KAL with alison and fiona, and they finished and i didnt. so i picked up this lovely koigu yarn from calico and ivy in perth, and started again.

im glad i did. this is a really easy pattern, with only 4 pattern rows, two of which are knit, and the actual stitch pattern easy to remember. its the ‘columns and arches’ stitch pattern and it comes up a treat in this tightly twisted yarn

(apart from where the knitter makes mistakes, but in socks for me i dont care). i did make one serious miscalculation however. i upped the stitch count by a whole pattern repeat (so from 56 stitches to 70). 56 stitches is way too small for me, especially on 2.25mm needles. i forgot however, that koigu skeins are a bit shorter than usual. so i ran out of yarn right near the end of the toe

i decided to just finish the toes with what i could reclaim from the aforementioned spud and chloe. it was a pretty good match, and i dont think you’d know if i didnt tell you. i will wear these a lot, they fit well and the colour goes with everything.

i would defintely recommend this pattern to start with if you’ve not knitted nancy bush socks before.

im enjoying knitting socks at the moment, and started another KAL with fee and al yesterday at lunch after knitters guild meeting. this time its wasabi peas from interweave knits

but i am not a green yarn lover, i dont own or wear a single green thing and dont intend to start anytime soon. so, in line with my ‘knit what you want with the yarn you want’ motto for 2012, i’ve started mine in madelinetosh sock in ‘tart’, which is my favourite colour of hers and will match my stripe study shawl. im calling them ‘tarty peas’

we’ve made a few mods to this pattern so far, including upping the stitch count, changing the cuff and modifying the actual stitch pattern! i’ll let you know how they work out, and hopefully there will be no mishaps with pattern or yarns this time.

k xx

toe fetish, with interruptions

these last two weeks before christmas at work have been crazy. im having most of january off and suddenly everyone wants me to finish everything. of course, its not happening. i have two more meetings today and then i go into serious wind down mode. my currently throbbing right wrist will thank me, if nothing else, although i suspect thats got more to do with knitting than work! and i think its from knitting furiously for at least a week on tiny 2.25mm needles.

first i had to fix that toe issue on those stripey socks. so i got everything set up for my sock surgery on thursday, turned the offending item inside out and set about trying to unpick a judy’s magic cast on.

not as easy as it sounds, and neither is unravelling a toe when there are decreases to be dealt with.

it got a bit messy at one point.

scissors were required.

right after i took this photo i decided to go cool off with some laps in the pool.

it hasnt even been hot here yet, just a bit humid and muggy, with so much rain and cloud, but the sun came out and i decided to just jump in there. i was pretty happy, my first swim in 8 months and i did a kilometre no problem, including 400 metres non stop (usually i break it up every 100m with a kickboard lap). it felt great to be in the water again. im not a fan of summer but i’d be happy for it be warmer OUTSIDE the pool than in (the water is warmed slightly so it was 27 in and 22 out!).

of course, swimming makes me ravenously hungry, so i made a little afternoon tea before getting back into the sock surgery,

which, once past the decreases,

proceeded without further problems!

i finished them up last night, and they are almost a perfect match.

the lengths are now even, but there is a slight difference in the actual shaping of each toe. i dont think the recipient will mind.

i had another toe issue this weekend as well, which involved the Unst socks ive been working on in that yummy koigu stuff. i forgot that koigu skeins are a bit sparse, and i went down a needle size PLUS added stitches, and forgot to adjust the length of the leg accordingly. i thought i might get away with it. people i had lunch with on sunday thought i might get away with it.

but i didnt. i ran out on the train on the way home.

so close! so i decided to risk it and join in some closely matching spud and chloe fine (the yarn i originally started these socks in!) i only had about 8 rounds to go, and im pretty happy with how it turned out.

you can really only tell if you look really closely, and who’s going to be looking really closely at the toes of my handknitted socks, especially when they’re inside my shoes?

so even though i should start the second unst straight away, i think i need a bit of a break from the tiny needles. there’s some madeline tosh prairie and a jared flood pattern calling my name.

kxx

a surplus of socks

its funny how the sock mojo comes and goes, isnt it? at the moment, i am surrounded by fantastic sock projects, and bringing my yarn out into the lounge room where i can see it everyday is making me plan ahead for more. i need some advice about one particular plan, but lets start with a recap. first, some decent shots of the conwy socks on the recipient.

much better in natural light.

he seems to think he is some kind of foot model, and see that little hole on that gusset join? thats the only one, on either pair. of course, it has to show up in the photo, doesnt it?

i am nearly finished sock one of his other socks, the stripey regia kaffe fasset,

so i will try and be good and finish these first, before i start him yet another pair, which i intend to be these:

yarn and pattern made for each other i think.

as for my own feet, well they’re confused. earlier this week, missfee and knitdra and i started our own little nancy bush knit-along, and all cast on the Unst socks.

the pattern says 56 stitches on 2.25mm needles which i just knew would be too small for me. on 2.25 i would never do less than 68, sometimes 72. the pattern repeat is 14 stitches, so i thought it would be safe to go straight to 70 stitches. however, because im a bit of a blonde sometimes (i have a phd you know), i also went up to 2.5mm sticks. stupid. too loose and floppy, no stitch definition, wont stretch to see the pattern. so i frogged that, and cast on 70 stitches on 2.25mm sticks.

perfect. these are going to be really lovely. the yarn is the spud & chloe fine in ‘shitake’ that i reclaimed from the too-small, too-short ‘evening stockings’. i also happened to have um, cough, started those again in wollmeise.

‘ruby thursday’ is the colour, and its glorious. but i do actually want these to be proper long socks. there should be enough in the wollmeise, but im seriously thinking of frogging this as well and starting them in some more spud & chloe, in this glorious red:

and then the wollmeise would become these socks from the latest knitty. however, i also have a gorgeous skein of wollmeise in ‘vamp’ that donna gave me, so i could easily use that for the inlay socks. and the’ ruby thursday’ looks lovely in the evening stocking. but then what would i use the spud & chloe for? can one person sustain two pairs of long socks, and what different pattern would i use?

you see my dilemma yes? guidance appreciated.

k xx