Yarrow ribbed socks in Opal finished

Drunken lightning style socks.



Yarrow ribbed sock from "Knitting Vintage Socks" (Nancy Bush)
Started: June 14, 2006 (?)
Finished: July 26, 2006
Opal Krokodil, colorway #31
2 socks on 2 circular needles, US 1.5 (2.5mm)
76 gm total

Whew. The song that never ends, they just went on and on my friends... I drug this pair out on purpose by whining about it so much. It wasn't that bad, just terribly tedious... and me making it out to be worse dragged it on even more.

I knit them (in part) for reasons rather than having finished socks on my hot little feet-- I wanted to try the Opal yarn, I wanted to try the heel & toe from the pattern that I hadn't tried before.

As for the heel:


German heel...

...which meant stockinette with a purl (garter?) seam down the centre, and a purled 2 st border ("...to last 3 sts, p2, k1"-- k1 for the flap pick up). I worked a purl border on my STR baby cable rib socks too, I think its a neat detail... need to remember to try it again. It makes the heel seem less wide (this one seemed really wide since it was just stockinette coming off of the rib pattern), and looks neat (prolly would look cooler with a less bold yarn like Dave said way back then.)

The German heel isn't just different for the flap though, its the turn, which to me left a too-holey of a result:



It's not that bad really, I was pulling the fabric in this pic to really show them off. The heel is worked by decreasing 2tog and then turning and slipping the st holding the worked together pair and continuing. Not bad and I'm glad I've tried it, but not really something bangup. I did like the garter border though, and the seam down the centre is neat too :) (forgot to take pics of that!)

The French toe, one word? Weird.



Looks normal, kinda. Something's off though... what could it be?

When in doubt, turn her over. (Sage advice here people!!)



For the moment, ignore the toe-nipple action please :)

The French toe is worked like a flat toe-- like, k1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1 turn across the top/bottom of the foot. Except the french toe is divided over 3 needles and decreases are done 3x not 2. You've got 6 sts dec every 2 rounds instead of 4, and its decreased down to the point where you draw the yarn thru the x amount of sts you have left. Hence, nipplage.

Anyway. I did think it was weird that the pattern said to stop work 2.5" shy of the toe, since this obviously eats up more sts than a "normal" toe and I generally give myself 2" to work those, but hey! I really wasn't thinking and just wanted these darn things off of the needles so I soldiered on-- too short. I think :) You're supposed to dec to 12 sts and pull yarn thru, I dec'd to 6 so my toes are prolly more pixie-pointy than the sample. I'm not one to avoid kitchenering but if you are, this may be a good toe for you... I kept that weird 3rd "seam" on the bottom of one sock and on the top of the other (^see above), just for kicks.

Total non-segue, cuff is 6" long where pattern called for 8.5". I had 24 gm left over (used 76 total), and a 10.25" foot (heel to tip of point! :))... either could have been easily increased, though maybe not the full 8.5" cuff and 10"+ feet.

As for the Opal? I like it. Not like love, but like, like. :) I like the base yarn a lot (I heard you can buy it undyed from GetKnitted.com, about $12 USD shipped and 10 for about $81 shipped on sale), I think its just the patterning/color that doesn't grab me. I also heard that USA cats may see rising Opal prices soon at your favorite sock yarn store (and prolly other stores too, but Allison is cool enough to keep a blog for me to read and stay current on so I know ahead of time about SSYC stuff like that and can plan my next shopping attack). SSYC has like a million other things I covet, incl. that handpainted Opal! Now that stuff may snog my opinion totally on its ear...

I do like the Opal enough I've already started a pair of toe-up toddler socks, PGR style, in the 24 gm I have left over from this pair, so I guess that's saying something :)

Previous posts on Yarrow ribbed sock in Opal Krokodil 31:

July 10, 2006
June 23, 2006
June 19, 2006

psst! purrl... if i could knit with my toes, don't you think i'd lambast entertain yall with a photo series and mundane, 50000 word writeup? :)

The new p-word is...

(Looking for the sock yarn and needles contest?)



...Perdita!


Perdita from Knitty Summer 2006
Started and Finished: July 6, 2006
Schaefer Anne, 7 af (tonal reds)
US 1 dpns (2.25mm),2
6 grams total weight (incl. beads & buttons)
8/0 beads, size S (5 repeats)

Very fun, very quick knit. I used some leftovers from my Evening Stockings for a Young Lady, and think I could make 2 more. I will definitely look to this pattern again for leftover thin sock yarn, I like it a lot. I can see it being a really fun quick gift too. I used 8/0 beads since they're what I had on hand-- they are red with a metallic inside (I'm sure there's real terminology for this). This was my 1st time using a bead stringer (again, lack of terminology)-- it is SO much better than making my own out of wire since the "hole" the yarn is strung thru pops back open and doesn't just get flat to where I have to cut it off.

This was my 1st time working crochet edging and though it worked, my "buttonholes" were a bit misaligned :) No matter, secret's just btw you me and the chickens, kay? I need to learn how to crochet... there's just too much cool stuff out there that I feel I'm missing out on.

I have reconciled myself with the fact my camera (Canon S410) does not do justice to reds without a flash, and then looks... well, flashy. Here's a non-flash (so, no variegation shows up) pic:


good shot of the tiny scar on my left hand, too*

Aside from the beaded cuff, lots of little things around here lately...


Cloverleaf sock, left leaning (PDF!!)


Short row heel à la Priscilla Gibson-Roberts (Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy)

I love her short row heel, no wrap and turn AND no holes (really). I used it in the rpm pattern (thanks for all the comments, yall!)... Purlwise has an EXCELLENT photo tutorial on how the heel yarnovers and stitches are worked, btw.

A German heel on the Opal Krokodil socks...


Yarrow Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I'm glad I worked the heel for practice and its interesting, but I probably won't choose to work it again, I see a bit of a gap where the work is turned on the short row decreases (more pics if when I finish them).

and a felted postcard, before...



and after.


Felted Space Invaders postcard
US 7's
Knit Picks Wool of the Andes; coal, hush and avocado
chart from knitmygrits

I was totally taken up with the idea of a felted postcard when I saw one on cpurl17's blog, and I've dug the space invaders scarf/chart for forever so it was a logical choice. :) I should have made my floats looser, not thinking they'd felt up tightly in the wash too (duh), but all in all I'm pretty happy. I took a hot iron to it on wool/steam setting and helped push down the edges (the "after" pic was actually before the hot iron treatment). The "card" ended up being about 6x8 or so.

I knit the chart as written, knitting each 1st st for a garter st border. I went and picked up those side rows and knit 4 rows of garter st to help tamp down the curling, I should have done the same on the "top/bottom" of the chart as the colorwork pulled in differently there. 2 trips thru the washing machine on hot with some laundry did the trick, the WOTA felts up well. It could have used another, but I'm impatient. I used a bit of fusible interfacing on the backside to help the card hold some "stiffness" before I sewed the card part to it, I think it helped. It adhered well to the felted fabric, felted floats and all.

One of these days I'll knit the scarf in double knitting, can't afford the yarn I want yet :)

And finally, for all those Smiths/Moz fans out there (who knew there were so many Smiths loving knitters? Or tomboy knitters, for that matter...)-- an incomplete shot of my Smiths/Moz vinyl collection (I ran out of stairs):



If you've seen my sock yarn stash, you'll understand I'm a bit of a collector, always have been. When I was younger, I wanted to hang these up on a wall in my grownup-house in glass or polycarbonate display cases-- I loved the look of each cover. The sick bit is I don't even own a turntable anymore. :)

My favorites are the bootlegs (the idea of *bootleg VINYL* is so appealing to me, knowing what a pita it is to press vinyl in the first place) and the colored vinyl discs-- those ones are mainly imports, except for the purple "tomorrow" Morrissey single.

tomorrow, will it really come
and if it does come, will i still be human?
all i ask of you is the one thing that you never do,
will you put your arms around me, i won't tell anyone...

Oy, teenage angst and the lyrics of *my* wonderful woman weekend.

***


*when i was really young, i remember sitting on the covered concrete backyard porch in my las vegas home, my mom walking in and out of the screened door as she paced with the giant cordless phone against her shoulder and ear, talking to a friend. i had this dog named eskimo (we called him momo) that my dad had found in an alley behind his work at one of the casinos, poor dog belonged in alaska with his thick, heavy coat... not nevada. as my mom traipsed in and out, i decided i needed to "ride" poor momo, who promptly sat down as i jumped onto his back beneath his shoulders, sliding me to the ground and managing somehow to cut my hand. its not this memory that the scar holds though--

i remember, at the exact moment of sliding off the dog and cutting my hand, realizing that someday i would die. that everyone would die, and in that moment i knew exactly how huge and permanent death actually is. i felt for a second a bigness i still can't wrap my mind around, and started crying startled at the idea-- holding onto the dog's mane and weeping into his coarse fur with a bloodied hand.