Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Not so much knitting going on so far today. I'm on a bit of an organizing rampage. At least it's a stash-organizing rampage. I've dismantled most of my issues of Cast On, keeping only those few patterns I might actually knit and the technique articles.

The technique issues are truly excellent. I've found that I often remember, vaguely, that I've seen an article about such-and-such, but then it takes me forever to locate it. Well, no more. I'm putting them in sheet protectors and sorting them into a binder by general topic: Design, Technique Fundamentals, Textures, Advanced Topics, and Finishing.

I ran out of sheet protectors, so I haven't done 2006-2007 yet. However, I immediately ordered more sheet protectors and they should arrive tomorrow. I had been wanting to place an office supply order anyway, to get more of the colored tabs I mark magazine patterns with. (I discovered that, of course, my very favorite brand of tabs is a store brand, and double of course, I have no local store... it's the boonies, folks.) But I'm compulsive about stalling until I need enough stuff to get free shipping, and the sheet protectors did the trick.

For my next trick, I'm going to hunt down all my really awful plastic yarn and take it to Goodwill.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Oil Slick socks are finished. I'm being a Very Good Girl and knitting the second sock of a pair I started, oh, maybe a couple of years ago. These are the Merino Lace socks from the IK book, but I knit the first one after it came out in the magazine.

Of course, I did not make any notes when I knit the first one, so it took me three tries to get the gauge right for the second one.

Friday, September 07, 2007

I've put the heel in the Oil Slick Socks and I'm a couple of inches up the leg. I need to finish these in a hurry before I cave in and start something else. Last night I bought Cat Bordhi's new book and it makes me wish I had twelve hands. Coriolis socks are imminent! Oh, and I also need to knit an entrelac sock from the Spring 2007 IK as a class model.

I thought of a new way to organize magazine patterns I'd like to knit and I started, of course, with the sock patterns. I had previously tabbed them with green Post-It tabs (yes, I've got a whole color-coded tab system) but now I've color-copied them and put them in sheet protectors in the binder along with my other sock patterns. I still can't decide, though, how to organize them in the binder: should they be sorted by yarn weight, or by style? Hmmm...

Thursday, September 06, 2007

I'm bummed that the purl diamonds don't show up any better on these socks, adapted from the "Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern" in Knitting Vintage Socks. You can see the silk gleam, though; they're made with Regia Silk. These are a birthday gift for the lead guitar player in my rock band. (I only knit socks for my band members and some of my blood kin.)





These are what I'm knitting on today. I've recently discovered Tofutsies, thanks to a ball I got in a yarn swap. I'm just knitting them by my usual decide-as-you-go toe-up method. I think I'll call them the Oil Slick Socks because the coloration reminds me of the dark rainbow on a puddle in an asphalt parking lot.







Those little metal needles are 6" size 0 Hiya Hiya stainless steel, which are now my very favorite double points. They're unbelievably light and they don't break in my purse, as happened recently with a Crystal Palace bamboo needle. I had just been to the dentist and found out I had cracked a molar and would need a crown, and then when I dropped my purse into the car, snap! I went directly to the LYS and bought the Hiya Hiyas.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Aha! Would you believe that uploading works much better if your USB hub is plugged in?

These are the Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Lilac.











Here is my second pair of Lavender Lace Socks from Vogue Knitting On the Go: Socks Two. They are made from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Natural. I also made a pair for my friend Traci a while ago in Sage Shepherd Sock.









In fact, I just noticed that these two pairs of socks were by the same designer, Evelyn Clark.

Last pair for today: Charlene Schurch's Ripple Weave Socks, from the Fall 2006 issue of Vogue Knitting. More Shepherd Sock, this time in Blackberry. Yes, that's my white leg.

Be warned that the stitch pattern chart has an error in Row 3; the yarnovers should be one stitch farther to the left. Study rows 1 and 5 and you'll see what I mean.




Hah! You thought this blog was dead! But it was merely comatose. I'm taking a break from investigating every free sock pattern on the internet. You, too, can spend countless hours on this endeavor. Check out this enormous list.

For my next trick, I might actually figure out how to post photos of some of the ten pairs of socks I've knitted this summer. That's right, complete PAIRS of socks. I'm not even counting the singles.