Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Fall Silence

Yes, I’ve been rather quiet here lately. My adopted mom always said if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all. That of course was hard for me, the motor mouth (or motor fingers since I learned to type). However, there has been some serious family stress that I would love to babble about but really can’t. And shouldn’t. Sorry about that. Suffice it to say that it’s not involving me and T or our kids or grands so not to worry. We’ll leave it there.

And everything I’ve been working on lately is secret too! Maybe I should distract you with some of the stuff I finished while I was away on vacay. Here’s the first project I completed and now that it’s been given to its recipient I can talk about it:

Dead Simple Lace Socks

SSSocks For: The White Lady (my daughter-in-law)

Begun: August 13, 2009

Completed: September 5, 2009

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare, superwash merino/nylon fingering weight, 462 yds per skein, dyed by me in several shades of red acid dyes.

Needles: Takumi bamboo dpns, 2mm.

Pattern: Dead Simple Lace Socks by Wendy D. Johnson from “Socks from the Toe Up”.

Mods: Worked from the top down instead of toe up. Used the larger size. Began with Nancy Bush’s Estonian cast-on (k & p versions of the long-tail cast-on followed by a round of purl stitches). This makes a pretty edge.

Comments: I frogged the original socks that I started in this yarn and used this simpler pattern instead. It went much better! I was a little disappointed that the larger size of the pattern was a bit asymmetrical but it was easier to use it as is than to re-design. It has an uneven number of plain stitches between the lace columns, more on one side than than the other. Doesn’t really show but bugs my symmetrical mind! She loves them though. I finished before her birthday but of course we were 1000+ miles away at the time so she didn’t get them until a few days ago. You can’t really see due to the crappy photo but they are quite attractive when on the foot.

And while I’m on the subject of socks, here’s the knee socks I made while we were driving from one set of rocks to another:

Ruby Kneehighs

clip_image002For: Me

Begun: September 5, 2009 (not quite sure)

Completed: September 17, 2009

Yarn: Newton’s Yarn Country Happy Feet, merino superwash 3-ply sock yarn, #8? (reds and navy blues), used about 125g/480yds.

Needles: Takumi bamboo dpns, 2mm.

Pattern: Ann’s Knee High Socks by Ann Ackerman.

Mods: Instead of sport or worsted weight yarn as the pattern states, I used regular sock yarn so adjusted pattern for smaller gauge. Began on 88 sts, 2/2 rib 4”, knit even 3”, placed markers 12 sts either side of centre back and decreased every 4 rows between them (creating a V-shaped gusset), last dec was a centred-double-dec, 64 sts rem, knit even 5” to beginning of heel flap, completed sock as usual for my feet.

Comments: These were superb travel knitting. Lots of plain stockinette stitch. My first pair of knee socks ever! But not the last for sure. They fit great and actually stay up. I would have to make them somewhat wider and longer though if they were for someone else with larger than my own skinny calves and small feet.

Poor White Lady has been trying to learn how to knit socks but she’s been having difficulties. I hope she keeps trying but it’s hard with the little distractions (aka the kids). We need to have a quiet session to remember and reinforce some of her knit skills. Not an easy task!

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