Lou-quacious Yarns
I’m still catching up, so I’ve put a few more days in at once this time. So here are days 17 to 24 of my Project 365 photos. If you want to see all the photos so far, click on the Project 365 category link, or check out the Project 365 folder in the photo album.
On to the pics (click them for the full sized versions):
Continue reading “Project 365 #4, Days 17-24: 26th Jan – 2nd Feb”
I’ve signed up for the Sock Knitter’s Pentathlon (for which there are Ravelry and Yahoo groups) because, well, I liked the look of it. The group summary goes:
In honor of the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, a sock knitter’s pentathlon is being organized. This group will test your sock knitting skills. During the course of the year, competitors will knit 5 pairs of socks in 5 different styles.
That means a pair of socks in each two month period starting from 1st March. Having two months to complete a pair of socks feels do-able for me, where other groups that are doing a pair of socks a month, for example, send me into a panic just thinking about it. Two months gives me some breathing space! There is, of course (since this is an ‘Olympic’ event *g*) a competitive element to the Pentathlon – there are points awarded according to how you place in the finished socks stakes. But if you don’t complete a sock in the allotted time, even though you’re then eliminated from the competition element of the group, you can still knit along for the rest of the patterns for the fun of it. Perfect!
However! As I said, the kal / competition begins on 1st March – just over a day away. That’s when the first pattern will be released… all we know so far is that the yarn we will need should knit to 8 sts per inch on 2.5mm (or thereabouts) needles, and that solid or semi-solid yarns will work best. Being on a yarn diet, I’m obviously not buying anything new and I hardly need to with the amount of sock yarn in my stash. But I can’t decide what to use! Heeeeelp! I feel like, because I don’t know what the pattern looks like yet, I can’t choose the yarn / colour that will look best. Maybe I should just wait until the pattern comes out, but then I’ll have to think about which yarn to pick and then rewind it, all of which will be cutting into my knitting time… and I know I wasn’t particularly going to do the competition element of this, but I’d kind of like to see how I can do at it anyway.
I have narrowed my choices down a bit, though, so maybe I could get some opinions? Have a look at the poll below…
Still playing catch-up with posting these, here are the next five days of my Project 365 photos. If you want to see all the photos so far, click on the Project 365 category link, or check out the Project 365 folder in the photo album.
On to the pics (click them for the full sized versions):
Continue reading “Project 365 #3, Days 12-16: 21st – 25th Jan”
Due to mania, server crash and my sieve-like memory, I hadn’t posted my final SP11 package squee-ing. So here it is now. I did mention on 3rd December that I’d received it, but that was as far as I got. (In that post I also mentioned that I’d been delayed in sending my final package out to my spoilee. Well, it’s still here – my money situation has meant I haven’t been able to find the postage yet. But it belatedly occurred to me that some virtual gifts were possible, and I’m putting a bit of cash by each week to send the non-virtual things! Also, I said that I had a new design for this site. As you can see, that’s not in place yet either. Hopefully soon, though!)
Anyway! Even though the package arrived at the beginning of December, it was all Christmas themed and wrapped. Hee!
Not that I let that put me off opening everything right then, of course. I did think very briefly about saving it all for Christmas, but… nah. So what was inside all that shiny wrapping paper? The best SP package ever, that’s what!
Oh thank …. well, whoever that guy was in 2nd line support who finally figured out what the problem with my internets was. Which was that when BT had done some work at my local exchange on the day I lost my connection (Sat 26th), they had either deleted or not re-added (depending on what they’d been doing) my ISP’s domain to the list of ones that are allowed to connect. I spose no-one else uses that particular domain for their log-in round here – either that or it’s specific to each broadband enabled line. Actually, that would make more sense. Anyway, they’ve now put it back on the system and voila, I can connect. It’s liek magic, only with teknolegdgy *nods* I told them it was an authentication problem the first day it went wrong, but it took 10 days to get someone to figure out exactly where the trouble was. To be fair, the fact that BT were doing work on my exchange threw them off the scent so I had to wait for all sorts of tests and then a BT engineer to come out because everyone thought it was a line problem that just looked like an authentication thing… oh well. All better now!
So anyhow, I should probably get on with uploading the many many photos I have to put up, both for Project 365 and for my knitting progress. Which there has been lots of! I finished the Hedara socks and I’ve taken my Bigga jacket out of hibernation and begun the sewing up of that. Plus I’m still plugging away on the Chevron scarf of DOOM. Scarf in fingering weight = Never Again, as I think I’ve said before. But anyway, that’s all for another post really. I’m off to bed.
I’m internetless! Well, obviously not this instant: right now I’m using a computer in C. House to make this post. But at home my broadband died on Saturday afternoon and hasn’t come back yet. Argh! It’s driving me potty. It doesn’t appear to be anything at my end that’s the problem, and my ISP has checked everything at their end as well. So it looks like it’s a problem on the phone line disrupting my ability to connect. :-( I don’t know how long it’ll be until I get back online from home again. What’s almost worse about this is that I only had my broadband upgraded (for the same price I was paying already, mwahah) to glorious speeds only last week. And now, kersplat! No internets at ALL. I don’t think it’s related to the upgrade – it was working fine for several days, and I technically have a perfectly good connection still. I just can’t connect to my actual ISP. Apparently it’s a line fault, so BT have got to check it out. Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long.
On the plus side, I’ve got loads of knitting done – I’m pretty much done on the gusset of my Hedara sock, having started from the ribbing just a few days ago. I can’t believe how fast it’s gone! And while I’ve been knitting, I’ve been catching up on season 1 of Alias, which I haven’t watched for ages and ages. But today I’m having withdrawal, so it’s back to the internets I come. However, there are other people waiting to use these machines, and even though I’m a speedy typer, I have other stuff to do. So I’d better get going. Let’s hope I’ll be back soon!
I mentioned in my last post that I was thinking about doing Project 365. A couple of days later I decided that if I was going to do it, then I’d better just start before I started thinking about it too much. So I did.
Which means that I will, all going well, be posting a photograph for every day from 10th January 2008 to 9th January 2009. I’m planning to make a post every five days or so. In actual fact, I might post more than one photo for some days – this is to stop myself getting mired in indecision! I’ve set up a specific folder in the photo album for the set of photos to go in, as well. I won’t be putting them on Flickr or adding them to any group sets there, though I have joined the Ravelry group for 365-ers, and I’m intending to join the webring.
Anyway, that’s enough rambling on the theory. On to the photos (click ’em for the full size versions):
Continue reading “Project 365 #1 – Day 1-6: 10th – 15th Jan”
Ummmm….. it was my birthday and I’ll buy yarn if I want to?
So, I know I said I wasn’t going to buy any more yarn, and lord knows, I don’t exactly need any. Seriously, I’m all yarned out. You know that – you’ve seen my stash. I have lots. But those sock yarns are just so scrummy, and apparently don’t count towards your stash anyway. Of course they still dent your bank balance a bit, but whoops, too late now! But it was my birthday last month, so I treated myself to some yarn that I had been stalking for a while. And then I decided that that’ll be it until… well, until I’ve knitted a lot of it up!
That wasn’t me falling off the yarn wagon, though – at that point, I wasn’t even on it despite my oh so good intentions. I was the person half-heartedly jogging along behind the wagon, occasionally making a vague jump up but not quite getting on board. But last month when I began clearing out my stash, I made my yarn diet ‘resolution’. I was then really good and resisted all yarn except for the YY glove kit that I already mentioned… which I justified because [a] it’s for something I need (gloves) [b] it counts as my sock yarn allowance, and [c] the money for it came from the yarn I’d sold on eBay.
Howwwwwever, I tripped and bought yarn and stuff after Knit & Natter last Saturday. The fatal flaw with K&N is that I’d have to leave early to catch my bus back home… and I don’t want to do that. So that leaves me with almost an hour to kill when it finishes. Of course I’m going to go to the yarn shop (the group meets in the pub opposite). Actually I still haven’t broken my yarn diet rules1, but I feel kind of bad nevertheless. 
I got some Debbie Bliss Rialto DK, which is for a Christmas gift and was a planned purchase, and some sock yarn – Regia’s Kaffe Fassett Design Line in Mirage Fire, which I think is new. I refrained from buying more than one lot of sock yarn, though, so at least that’s something! *g* I did succumb to the lure of a couple of Addi Turbo bamboo circular needles, though. I’m using one pair already, and they are lovely and smooth with a non-tangley cord and all. But the join between the bamboo and the bit that connects it to the cord isn’t smooth. There’s a definite jump that the stitches catch on all the time. :-/ Still, maybe I can do something about it. I really hope so, because they’re lovely in every other respect, and I don’t want to spoil the very nice yarn that’s being knit on them. Anyone have any advice about that?
So yeah, I haven’t technically fallen off the wagon, but I felt the need to confess my purchases anyway. That’s probably the best way of keeping on top of what I do buy within my allowance and making sure I don’t slip. Keep it all public so I’ll be too embarrassed to fail! Think it’ll work?
1 To re-cap:
I’ve been having a really good clear-out over the last few weeks, and I’m starting to feel less mentally cluttered as well already. I’ve even eBayed more of my yarn. I know! Can I really be breaking my hoarding mentality? Well, no, not if you look at my bookshelves (MY books *clings*) and, uh, the remainder of my yarn stash. Not to mention the contents of my wardrobe and drawers… and a couple of suitcases… However, I am going to eBay some more stuff. Not yarn this time (although I might be able to persuade myself to part with a couple more skeins), but things like my spare Palm cradle (never used) and serial cable (not used since approx 3 computer upgrades ago)… oh, and I’m sure there are some other things. I have also sorted out more clothes and knick-knacks etc to go off to the charity shop. I think I still have more to do there, though!
Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit stalled on the whole thing because I’m still ill. Bleuch. I left the flat yesterday for the first time in about 2 weeks (alright, maybe my mental health hasn’t been ideal: being stuck indoors ill was threatening to push me into a ‘down’, but I think I’ve caught it in time) because I had to go to the Post Office, and stopped in to speak to the pharmacist on the way. She reckons I have bronchitis or a chest infection, and what with being asthmatic already, I’ve been told to go to the doctor tout de suite. I know, I know, I should have gone a week ago. I am Procrastination Woman. In this case, that’s particularly stupid of me since it means I’ve been propped at a weird angle in bed for several days since I can neither sit/stand up or lay down normally and breathe comfortably. V annoying. Oh well. I have an appointment this afternoon. I’ll be fixed soon. On the plus side, this whole thing seems to have sorted out my insomnia / wonky body-clock thing that I had going on: I’m now tired / sleeping during the actual night again, instead of being awake all night and tired or asleep all day. Hoorah!
In knitting news, I have got some work done on my WIPs. I really must remember to make a couple of posts about my current WIPs and recently completed FOs to spring-clean that off my mental to-do list. Mainly I’ve been working on “Mmm, Refreshers”, which is a Christmas gift. Can’t say anything else about it in case the recipient trundles over here. You never know with my friends and family *peers around suspiciously*. I’ve also done a bit of “WFS” (likewise, Christmas), and some of my Fireworks socks… which are for me me me, so there. Obviously I finished my Tête à Fetching (wore it when I went out yesterday), and I’m really chuffed with the response – some people have said they like it and want to make it, it’s in a few queues (and one in-progress!) on Ravelry, and I even got a really lovely comment from Cheryl Niamath who designed the Fetching gloves. :-) I’ll get the scarf pattern written up soon-ish as well, but I want to make a wider version of it for Mum first. Once I’ve finished something else, that is.
I actually think my WIP tolerance has been reached. If I cast on one more project, my head would explode. I can cope, just about, with the number I have going at once right now (8 plus 3 in hibernation) because I have a definite Christmas deadline for, um, three of them. Although I have at least two more things I wanted to cast on for gift knitting as well. Oh dear. But I’m not going to think about that now! The thing is, those gift knits are the ones which are taking priority, and the rest are pushed to the back-burner. Some more than others – I’m still working on my various pairs of socks (for me) every now and again, to give myself a break. It seems to be working. But anyway, like I said, I’ll make a proper all-about-my-WIPs post a bit later.
I didn’t find my gloves, by the way. So far I’ve been wearing my Fetchings or my Hurry Up Spring fingerless ones, but I’ve wound a skein of Yarn Yard Merino sock into a ball to make some new ones – I think I’m going to make cabled ones with that. And I did crumble and get ones of the glove kits, so I’m going to make a pair with that too.
Yay, gloves! I’m not allowing myself to cast on for them until I’ve finished a couple of my current WIPs, though. Preferably the Christmas gift ones, since those have a deadline!
Hmm, was there anything else I was going to say? I can’t think… oh! I remember. I found a (the) Holiday Gift KAL-CAL. Just what I wanted! I have duly signed myself up. Um. Oh yes, and I’ve been working on my next (final? I’m not sure if I’ll be sending one more package or if I’ll split it into two – Katie, do you have any preferences?) SP11 package. Mwahaha. Etc. ;-)
Right, that’s enough being upright for me for the time being. I’m going back to bed for a bit to listen to the radio / podcasts while knitting, then I shall get up again, have foooood, and get myself off to the doctor’s. TTFN!
You know, it’s funny. I don’t tend to be struck down with Second Sock Syndrome. I don’t always cast on a second sock the instant I’ve finished the first if I’ve got other projects on the go that I want to work on before I go back to the sock knitting. But by and large, my second socks seem to knit up faster than the first ones… probably because I already have the pattern fixed in my head. 
What I do get, though, is ‘Mid Sock Syndrome’. Is it just me? I start a new sock (so far I’ve only knit top-down, so I can only talk about that) and the ribbing, if there is any, might feel relatively slow, but once I get onto the main part of the leg: zoom! Before I know it, I’m at the heel flap. At that point, time grinds to a halt or something. What’s really weird here is, the various parts of heel flap, heel turn and even gusset decreases don’t seem to take all that long. But somehow, all together, they take an age. And then there’s the foot. For some reason this didn’t happen for the Monkey socks – the foot of those flew by – but in general, the foot takes for EVAH. Which makes no sense, because my feet are small and therefore the foot part of a sock is much shorter than the leg.
Perhaps it’s that I’ve gone past the point of being interested in the pattern because it’s new, and also past the gratification of having learned it, so it starts knitting up faster. Is it sock fatigue? I seem to constantly be checking the foot length to make sure I haven’t gone too far, and seeming to still have miles before the toe decreases start. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the sock knitting. But I suppose by the time I get to that part, I just want the flipping thing to be finished! I guess I’ll just have to be grateful that starting that second sock makes it all new and exciting again…. :-)
It’s been a looooooooooong day… and why I’m not in bed already, I’m not really sure. I’m running on caffeine fumes, or something. It was my uncle’s funeral, so we’ve been to Norfolk and home again (5:30am start, most of the day spent in the car…. ow my back). 
On the plus side, because I’m not allowed to drive at the moment, I got some knitting done. Um, yay? So yup, I have another couple of inches done of my Whitby sock. There would have been more, but I was pretty tired by the time we were on our way home, so I slept for a couple of hours. I feel a bit guilty about that, cos Mum and M were having to stay awake and do the driving. But then, I didn’t sleep well last night because my brain was in ‘oh no, what if I don’t wake up in time’ mode.
The funeral was fine, and it was good to see all my cousins, even if the circumstances weren’t exactly great. I even met up with a cousin I haven’t seen since we were both 2, and a couple of others that I might not have met at all. I have a lot of cousins. The ones who are all my age are actually my first-cousins-once-removed (the children of my first cousins) due to the generational wonk my family has going on. *g* One of these is my cousin B, who is great, and who I’m hoping to keep in touch with more regularly – we’ve been saying we will, but crucially this time we remembered to exchange email addrs! Hopefully I’ll get the chance to go and stay with her at some point so we can have a proper catch-up.
Back to the knitting, I’ve been doing lots of other things as well. I finished my first Hedara sock:
And the kitty-face baby hat that I’ve done for a friend’s expected new baby:
Aaaaaand finally I’ve finished off the HP Slytherin scarf I’ve been making for Sann for, oh, years (it was the weaving in of the ends that I stalled on). Hoorah!
Yaaaaay, finished objects! I feel like I’m on a bit of a roll now: I’m determined to finish one of the jumpers that’ve been lurking for years as well (see sidebar). I had resolved that I wasn’t going to cast anything new on until I’d finished at least one project, and now I’ve finished two and a half… but… finishing one of those flippin’ jumpers will feel like a real achievement. So that’s my next plan, along with continuing with the other things I have on the needles, of course! I really must remember to post on here with pics of the other things I’ve done recently as well. But not tonight. Now, it’s bedtime. Zzzzzzzzzz………
I did say I was going, didn’t I? I’ve been off in Manchester at the TRA Meet-Up 2007, which was the best con evah. Seriously. Actually, it was more like a pilgrimage than a convention – it wasn’t the kind where several hundred fans are packed into a hotel for a weekend and queued past actors. Which, hey, I’ve been to plenty of and enjoyed very much! But somehow this was better: there were just 50 or so of us, and we visited various filming locations, “met” the Camberwick Green puppet of Sam, and got to sit in the Cortina! So yes. Pretty much the best Life on Mars geekfest possible. There was even a party with fab 70’s style buffet food (and a pub quiz) on the Saturday night. The girls who organised it really went all out and made it a seriously memorable weekend for everyone, plus I met some lovely lovely people. Whee!
I got back down from Manchester on Wednesday evening at…. late-ish. I had to hang around in London for a while to avoid the rush hour – I did think about braving it, but I didn’t really fancy possibly standing all the way to Hastings with my backpack on. I was wiped out when I got home, so I kind of fed the cat and fell into bed at that point. Since then I’ve been (a) recovering and (b) working. Or is it the other way around? Nah, maybe not. ;-) I’m just in the process of ploughing through my email, so if you’re expecting to hear from me… I may be gone some time! Oh alright, I’m being over-dramatic. Hopefully I won’t take very long – at a quick glance I see I have mail from my SP to answer *waves*.
In knitting stuff, I did get a fair bit done on the train journeys, which was nice. I made my second Fetching, and a good start on my first Hedara sock. More about those later when I have photos to prettify the post. Listened to plenty of knitting podcasts, too, which enlivened the whole travelling thing. Hoorah!
I got my Yarn Yard club parcel yesterday, too. :-D I don’t think I mentioned last month’s, which I loved as well. This one is scrummy – I won’t describe it just yet in case there’s anyone reading (is there anyone reading? At all? *g*) who’s in the club and hasn’t had theirs. But it’s bright and delicious, and there were sweets in the package as well! Yum!! I think I definitely do want to use the accent quarter skein for toes and heels this time. I’m just not sure whether to make plain stst socks or do something with a little bit of a pattern / texture. I’ll think on it. And post photos in a couple of days when I’ve taken them.
Right now, though? Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
I’ve been whizzing through the foot of my second Monkey sock – yay! I am of course in no way inspired by the fact that I need those 2.5mm DPNs for another project I want to start. Oh no. Hah! (I need another set of 2.5s, is what I need. Ooo, or maybe a circular needle in that size, just for variety.)
But anyway, the foot of these socks goes so much faster than the leg! Quite possibly as much as twice as fast, in fact. Not that the leg was slow going, mind you. But the foot, remember, only has the pattern repeats on two needles, and the other two are nice speedy plain stocking stitch. The twice as fast thing is suddenly making sense! Plus, with my short little size 4, I only do five pattern repeats on the foot including the gusset decrease section. Which is one less than the leg to start with.
The outcome of all this is, I’ve now finished the lace repeats (yay), and all I have to do is the toe decreases and kitchener stitch the toe up. I like kitchener stitch. It’s all neat and invisible and …. weave-y. Oh look, my vocab has turned in for the night!
So I’m going to finish these socks off tonight while listening to podcasts before I go to sleep. Hoorah! I’m strongly tempted to take myself to the shop at the bottom of my road that sells all sorts of fascinating shop fittings and models, tomorrow. Because I want a head (please mentally pronounce that “hiid”) and a foot (“fuut”) or two for the displaying of my hats and socks. I know I have Angelique-the-toy-head (named by Ally manymany years ago), but she’s, well, technically a toy. And not life sized, which makes her not quite right for displaying hats. I’m not sure if I’d be better off getting a foot (or pair of feet), or some of those lovely wooden sock blockers – plastic ones are OK, but if you’re going to get some, you might as well get some dead spiffy ones, no? Shop model feet have the advantage of being properly foot-shaped, but sock blockers are easier to store. It’s a conundrum! Anyone have any advice?
I’ve been beavering away at my Monkey socks, one repeat at a time, usually while listening to podcasts. One of the nice things about this pattern is that the lace repeats are logical, and so very easily memorised. But you know, I don’t think I made a proper ‘project info’ entry for this project. So:
Pattern: Monkey socks, from Knitty (Winter 06).
Yarn: Opal Rodeo #1170.
Needles: Set of five 2.5mm DPNs.
The first pic here is of the first one of the pair, either at the end, or almost at the end of the heel flap. The stitch marker in the middle is where the cast-on row began. I haven’t bothered with that for the second sock.
And here’s a pic of the completed first sock and the just cast-on second sock. There’s actually a lot more of it now – I’ve just finished the lace repeats for the leg and done the two set-up rows for the heel flap, so when I’ve finished writing this post, I’m off to go and listen to podcasts and get that heel flap done.
One of these days, I’m going to sit down and knit a pair of socks from start to finish, without working on other projects at the same time. Or, without swapping between those projects all the time. I’ve been trying to use Lixie’s Stashtimator, but I have no idea how long it really takes me to knit a pair of socks. Still, I have a ton more stash to count before I can get to my final figure anyway. Urk. I can tell you, though, that I have *wince* 6.1 miles just of sock yarn. Ouch. And that’s not counting leftovers. I’m realising that “too much stash” is a very subjective thing, because I’ve seen people who think they have a large stash when they only really have a couple of shoeboxes full. How do they do that? I don’t think I’ve had a stash that small since about two weeks after I started knitting! I’ve really got to go on a yarn diet / stashalong, haven’t I?
Ahh, my first socks! Aren’t they fab? I don’t remember exactly why I decided to knit a pair of socks – whether it was just the next thing I wanted to try, or if I saw the yarn and fancied having a crack at it. I do know that my friend Char was with me, and she’s a sock knitter. So she definitely had some hand in the proceedings! *g*
Anyway, we were in the Battle Wool Shop (an L-ishYS) and with help from Char and the lovely ladies who work there, I picked out this yarn and a set of 2.5mm DPNs, and was given Sue Morgan’s Simple Sock Pattern pattern free with the purchase. I went for this because, well, there wasn’t a lot of sock yarn available – what there was was either completely plain, or the Opal or Regia self-striping. Or at least, I think so – there might have been some more expensive yarn there at the time, but I wasn’t looking for that – I wanted to go for something that would stand up to my novice sock-knitter efforts! Anyhow, I know they do have Lana Grossa and Trekking in the shop now as well as Opal and Regia, and I’m not 100% sure what else. If they have handpainted lines, it might live with the other expensive yarn on the other side of the shop, and I haven’t looked over there recently – too much temptation!
But I digress. So there I was with my new sock making supplies…. but I can’t remember now if I cast on straight away or not. The picture on your right was taken in November 04, at any rate.
I knitted that first sock in fits and starts. The leg took quite a long time, though I was enjoying watching the pattern manifest itself. Then I blitzed the heel and foot gusset overnight in late December (pic below). The foot, again, took quite a while, and once I’d completed that toe, I have a feeling that the whole project hibernated for some time before I cast on for its pair.
Again, the second one was done in bits and pieces, but then in winter 05/06 I picked it up again and worked steadily until I was done! Whee!
More pictures are under the link!
