Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

Last week at knit night, there was some talk about how many of us feel stuck in a rut. A knitting rut, a general rut, a "how can it be snowing in April" rut. I've felt kind of the same--I've got a lot of projects going on, and I am actually working on many of them, but I still feel kind of stuck. What's got me stuck, more than anything else, is HEELS. I look in my knitting bag before leaving the house so that I'll have a project with me, and what do I find? Socks that are either at the heel or just about at the heel. I come home from the gym and I want a mindless project to work on while the aches and pains settle in, and what do I find? Project that involve elaborate counting of stitches and rows, due to heels.

Example #1:

Here's the sock that I started on Opening Day. It's a great travel project--plain stockinette, no muss, no fuss. However, I'm within 2 or 3 rows of the heel flap now (this photo is a few days old), so until I get the heel flap done and the gusset decreases underway, this baby's grounded.

Example #2:

I'm knitting this pair of socks two at once, and I love the yarn and the pattern, and how they work together. The foot of these socks flew by, and then once again I was stalled by the heel. It's a new heel to me (some sort of reverse flap), which means that it's slower than average, and I have to really pay attention. In the photo above, I've actually finished one of the heels, but you can see the sad other sock near my foot, which is unfortunately heel-less. I've made some progress on heel #2, and should finish it soon, but it's taken a looooong time.

Example #3

These socks have been completely finished for weeks, except for one thing. Yes, they need heels. I thought that an afterthought heel would solve my heel problem, by not really interrupting the main sock knitting. While that is the case (these were a great carrying around project for that reason), I've gotten not much further than picking up the heel stitches.

The obvious answer to the portability problem is to cast on another pair of socks, right? First, though, I'd really like to get the M's sock past the heel--we've got tickets to Ichiro Bobblehead night next week, and I'll have these with me!

You Got Me Thinkin' That I'm Wastin' My Time

What on earth happened with these stripes? How did I screw up the stripe pattern on mass-produced striped sock yarn ?

I was very careful to match the toes:

I paid attention to my gauge, to make sure that things matched up. That is, as well as can be expected on socks that are knit a row or two at a time while waiting for trains, or meetings, or jump-starts (thanks, S___!). I even marked the afterthought heel at the same row, and they looked pretty good:

But wait. Look a the last couple of stripes on the top of the 2nd sock. There's pink where there should be brown, and now the pattern repeat that I'm on is several inches off of the pattern on the right:

Arrrrrgh. How could this happen, you ask? I asked myself the same question. Then I turned the finished sock inside out, and I found my answer:

Although I have no recollection of this AT ALL from sock #1, there must have been a knot in the first skein that was tied out of sync. I am not sure if this is at all typical of this yarn (Regia Kaffe Fassett), or if it was just a fluke, but I'm not pleased at all about it. I'm glad that I found this out now, when I only have to rip back a few inches--it was really pure coincidence that I even looked at it, usually this project stays in the car.

After ripping out, a couple of inches, and then pulling maybe another inch worth of yarn, it was pretty simple to get the stripes back on track:

I'm a little concerned that the stripe matching here and at the beginning of the 2nd sock is going to result in a shortage of yarn when I come to the heels, especially if the heels are to match. I think that a contrasting heel would look great, but I've yet to see any yarn that's a great color fit. I supposed I could just slap on another blue . . . but hopefully it won't come to that.

A Little of This, A Little of That: Part 3

I've finished the child-sized companion to the Heart Monkey Hat I posted about a few days ago, although the child has not yet tried it on so I only have the above to show for now. I've written out the pattern (including charts) for both hats, and will post the pattern in the sidebar once I figure out the best way to do it. Can't wait to get started on your Valentine's Day knitting? A PDF of the pattern lives here (or at least I hope it does--this is my first try with this kind of thing).

For J___'s hat, I wanted something a little softer and bulkier (i.e. faster to knit) than I used for the monkey's hat. My LYS (Renaissance Yarns) had Louet Gems Bulky in red, but no bulky pink so I used Cascade 220 for the light pink. I think that the hearts would look more "solid" in the bulky, and once J____ has had a chance to try it on I might duplicate stitch the hearts if they need some extra heft. The Louet bulky has an almost cotton-y feel to it, although it's 100% wool--it's very nice on the hands.

In other news, the second Bird in Hand mitten is coming along just fine:

I'm past the challenging braids, and found that by NOT doing all three in the space of 12 hours basically elimates the hand cramping that plagued me on the first mitten. Imagine that! This has moved from a Christmas deadline to a mid-January birthday deadline (sorry, E____ G____, I'm not talking about you).

And last but not least, I cast on the second Stripey Sock, and the stripes look like they are lining up pretty well so far:

The new toe looks like it might have a row or two more of the teal at the tip of the toe, but I'm willing to live with that. I'll try to make sure that the heel hits at the same row, and it will all even out on the feet.

A Little of This, A Little of That: Part 2

More updates on miscellaneous projects (though unfortunately not more tiny mittens).

I'm going to make you one of these for real if you don't hit next season, Ritchie Sexson.

My 2.5 year old friend J______ has a friend who goes everywhere with her. This friend is a red monkey with pink hearts, going by the name "Heart Monkey". Now that it's getting a little chilly, I thought that Heart Monkey could use a hat to keep warm. Like the tiny mittens, this worked up very quickly--not a lot of worry about gauge or anything. I charted the hearts, and will post the chart & pattern once I knit the companion child-sized hat--it's not fair if ONLY the monkey has a new hat! Heart Monkey's hat is knit in Cascade 220, but J____'s hat will be in something softer and with the colors reversed.

Yesterday evening, I bound off the first of the Stripey Socks, which I've been working on a little at a time since E______ visited over Thanksgiving. I really like the colors & stripey-ness of the pattern, although I still sort of wish that I'd chosen the red Kaffee Fassett Regia Sock yarn that E____ used, instead of the blues.

The pattern is Renaissance Yarn's basic toe up sock pattern. The next challenge will be trying to start the yarn in basically the same part of the repeat, so that the socks will match exactly. Or maybe the next challenge will be locating the pattern, with my notes on it, which I seem to have misplaced. That makes the second pattern this week!!!! I'm losing things right and left!!!

Two Toe Tuesday: Now, With Two Totes!

E____ G_____ is visiting from Boston, and we've been touristing and crafting up a storm. You want evidence? You've got it. Above, the two toes we've knit in Kaffe Fassett Regia Sock Yarn. The pattern is a simple toe-up, afterthought heel sock from Renaissance Yarns. Before I tell you who knit which color, E____ wants me to ask which one looks prettier. I think they both look good!

Last night, I gave E___ a sewing lesson. She already knows how to sew a little, but she's very detail oriented and wants to learn the right way to do things. Which means that my mom should teach her instead of me, because my sewing can be a little sloppy. Anyway, we each made an Artsy Clutch from Amy Karol's "Bend the Rules Sewing". Very simple, cute project, and I had all of the materials on hand (except the elastic, which I have but couldn't find). E___'s is on the right in the photos below--she picked great fabrics & I only made her cry a couple of times during the lesson. These are pretty small, but they hold the single Stripey Sock just fine.

I can definitely see making more of these, possibly with pieced fabrics or embellished fabrics. Rhinestone unicorn, anyone? Maybe a little larger, too, and maybe I'll try a little harder to center the elastic loop. In any case, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out.

In other sewing news, I did a little sewing before E___'s arrival. My Mom's church bazaar was the day after E__ arrived, and I didn't make anything at all in advance. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! It turned out fine, though--before going to the airport, I whipped out some fabric tissue holders using this pattern. It's a good use for small fabric leftovers, and they are very quick to put together. I only sold 5 of them this year (vs. 12 or 14 last year), so I have plenty left for Christmas gifts. Next year, maybe I'll make some with matching eyeglass cases or little tote bag things. I'll try not to just save the tissues that are in these for a year, and then resell them when they get musty. That's bad crafting!