sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Monday, February 13, 2006

What a difference 8" makes!

A few things in the knitting pipeline...

First, my Knitting Olympics event, "rib and cable sweater with hood" by Debbie Bliss in Knit Picks' Merino Style is going swimmingly, if I say so myself. I even think that this pattern won't take me the 16 days time, though I really - really thought it would. But this is a good thing, since its opened up a whole new knitting world of possibilities for me-- to knit sweaters for my toddler. I can't stand the idea of knitting a sweater in an adult size, but a 2 year old size is perfect for my knitting attention span. I knit this back piece of the sweater over Saturday, cast on in the morning and had a lot of blocks of time to work on it. Haven't touched it since (I've been trying to finish the felted bag I want to take to trek stuff in from Stitches... this weekend!!)



I'm about 10" in-- I'm using the width for a "1 year old" (24.75" chest) but I'm going to use the length for the 2 year old (14.5" from shoulder down). Even so, I think I have overbought the Merino Style; I bought 11 balls and am on my 2nd for the back portion. I'm thinking 2 for the back, 2 for the front (maybe 5 total for front & back)... one for the hood and one each for the arms. So, I'm guessing I may have 3 or so balls leftover, maybe a shorter Backyard Leaves scarf or Forbes Forest scarf (from Scarf Style)? I am planning on picking up 2 hanks of Four Play from Brooks Farms at Stitches for the Ruffles scarf...

I received my Addi 24" US 1's and knit my River Rapids socks onto them... what a difference! I love knitting these socks, and can't wait to get them off the needles (the KOlympics and the felted bag have been "holding me back" from finishing... I really shouldn't have so many projects going at once!) Another huge plus about them-- I washed and dried my Wyverns in the washer & dryer recently, and they are now my softest pair of socks ever. Its truly amazing how wonderful they turned out, they're sooo thick and comfy now after going thru the wash-- and my RR socks are made from the same Kona Superwash yarn I used for the Wyverns. So, I want to finish them and wash them right away! I seriously can't believe the difference, and want like, every pair of my socks to be like this :)



I also want to finish up the RR's since I already have my next sock project in mind-- the new pattern from Yahoo Groups' Six Sox Knitalong -- the Glad Raggs pattern for Feb/March 2006. I can't link to it but you can check out Yahoo Groups for more info... the pattern is lace and has beads on the cuffs! I had such a fun time knitting Odessa that I knew I wanted to knit these next. (Though, I think I may unknit Odessa... I added length to the cap and wore it for the first time a week ago, caught a glance of myself in a reflection and I looked like a pinhead. More than usual, anyway... the fabric was looser at the top, too much to conform to the shape of my head and as if I was hiding an extra cone up there. Oh well, after the KOlympics.)

I'll be using some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock that I bought in a millend from ebay ages ago for the Glad Raggs'. When I first started knitting, I went a little ape on buying these supersock millends (and to my credit, they're more expensive now than they were then... 2006 is really the year of the sock, and with knitty devoting its summer issue to "extremities" I don't think it'll be slowing down any time soon!). The ebay CTH millends are a great deal but they're a bunch of smaller hanks tied together and dyed in a batch, so you get about a pound of yarn but they're all underweight (under the 4 oz CTH usually packages supersock in)-- at least in my experience. Its still a good deal. Anyway, when I was (17, it was a very good year)... I handwound all of these smaller hanks into balls without knowing what I was doing-- I just rolled them into balls. Not just balls, not even center-pull balls, but tight tight TIGHT balls and stretched the poor yarn into thinnish submission. I've been going thru the stash and decided to relieve the CTH from its misery and unwound all of the balled-balls, and these 2 I soaked in some warm water to help the fiber relax from its unnatural state.



I also picked up extra 8/0 beads at the bead store, for who knows what... but beads and knitting are fun so I'm going to keep them on hand for something :)



Now I can't decide what to go and finish knitting! :)

2 comments:

lexa said...

Child-sized sweaters are soooo much nice to make than adult! I started an adult sweater last spring for the store where I work and am still not finished! Front and back are done, and I started one sleeve. Adult sweaters just take too long.

I have been bidding a lot on yarn on eBay lately but keep getting outbid. I think that's a sign. We have an order of new Regia sock yarns coming in any day now at the store. I'm sure a lot of it will make its way home with me!

Can't wait to see your finished RR socks. I printed that pattern off a few weeks ago and is in my "to do" pile.

Stacey said...

The sweater looks great - I love the color. I was glad to read about the RR socks and the Kona - thanks to you I bought a cone of it to dye! The socks look great! The CTH is very pretty. Can't wait to see them as socks

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