Woolgathering

Here it is, my personal challenge for the Socktoberfest. I am learning Magic Loop. Do not underestimate the level of challenge here - my manual dexterity leaves much to be desired and I struggle with circulars. Also I am spatially challenged, so learning the method does not come easily.

I chose to do the simplest sock pattern that I know of that fits reliably - Sue Morgan’s Free Simple Sock & Gift Pouch Pattern. That leaves  me free for the manual struggles without having to worry about the brain part. I am knitting up a ball of yarn that speaks loudly to me, in the hope that the colour will carry me through the acres of mind-numbing stocking stitch.

The definitive resource for Magic Loop, if one does not have the Fibertrends booklet (I don’t) is here. I do not find this tutorial particularly clear, so I supplemented with a range of other URLs until I could see what I was doing. There’s a small list of resources here.

Circular needles are awful. I really hate using them. So I bought some Addis because I had read that the cords have little memory in them and do not kink. Hah - a lie! I have photographic evidence… not good evidence, these are awful photos taken in almost dark conditions. Please forgive.

It’s a 60 stitch sock. Here are 60 stitches cast onto one needle

All 60 stitches slipped down onto the cord

After pinching the cord and pulling it out between the two centre stitches - we now have a loop at one end, two needles at the other, and 30 stitches on each side of the cord

Then the stitches are pulled up onto the needles, still 30 stitches each side. There’s a big loop of cord that you can’t see at the left of this shot. The working end of the yarn is at the right hand side of the rear (designated right) needle.

Round joined, using the swap-first-and-last-stitches method and the first few stitches have been knitted off the left needle and onto the right.

A not very helpful image: stitches knitted off the left needle and now resting on the right. Time to turn the work, then slip the stitches down the cord on the right/rear and up to the needle on the left/front in readiness for knitting the other side.

See? Easy Peasy! Well, it must be if I managed to get this far already…

Notes:

• I had one false start and had to cast on again when I found my stitches were twisted.
• I found that the mid-join tended to ladder in the rib section. I had no problems where the rib began with K2, but the P2 side was a very weak join. In future I may arrange my stitches such that both sides begin with Knit stitches.
• I did discover that the larger I made my big loop/smaller I made the small loop, the easier it was to handle the joins and the faster I could knit.
• Also in the rib section, I found that I kept tangling my yarn in and around the cable and spent much time extricating it.
• The problem went away when I began stocking stitch - so I blame this on my spatial difficulties.
• I find this method rather slow, with all that slipping stitches up and down business
• but can see the value of only having the one needle and will find this method useful on the boat.

I am going to persevere, and I plan to take this project to Show and Tell at Spinning this week.

Lovely yarn, isn’t it?

Socktober Mountain at Ravelry

I got my Clapotis out at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed reacquainting myself with it. It was cold in the house and the Clapotis kept me nice and snug - it was also much admired when I went out on Sunday. Sooooo… I was considering making another Clapotis. I got some nice silk from Colourmart the other day… and I was thinking of making a more sophisticated Clapotis this time around - skinnier, slinkier, more subtle. Dressier. LOL, dressy is a strange notion in these parts!

I feel castonitis coming on. But I am supposed to be immersing myself in socks this month.

Add one more WIP sock kit to that list. My “boat sock” kit (Thorfinn) didn’t make it as far as the siting room for the photo session. I’ll be taking that with me on Thursday when I go to the hospital.

After tidying my workroom (well, a lick and a promise anyway) I did what I have been threatening to do and I assessed the sock situation for Socktoberfest. It has been on my mind that the month is wearing on and I have done nothing to diminish the sock stash yet, unless you call my Mama Janes slippers “slipper socks,” which I think that I shall, because that makes me feel better about this situation.

What situation?

This situation:

That’s the sockpile stockpile. Scary, huh?

Much larger than I thought.

I decided to investigate just what was in it…

… and to make a plan for reducing it via the impetus of Socktoberfest.

But socks are slow, and there isn’t much month left, and I have many other things that I need to be doing. So I don’t expect the pike to shrink by much at all.

(All photos bigger at Flickr - just click)

Here’s the stash of new yarns (untouched)

SEVEN balls of standard sock yarns from Regia and Trekking etc.

TWO Trekking Hand Art,

and one Bonny from The Yarn Yard.

And here we have some rather nominally designated WIPS

The HipKnits cashmere #1 Husband sock, due for completion 31st Dec 2007. *blush*

The Opal “mixed recipe” sock, with one sock completed.

Two Cookie.A designs: Mingus and Pomatomus. Mingus in Yarn Yard “Bonny” and the other in Rowan Cashsoft

Next, the truly WIP - the Vanilla Mansock aka The Monster Sock (much too large but progresses due to knitterly denial)

Then the awful realisation of the size of the Frog pond…

Shall we gloss over that and make our way to the Socktoberfest Plan?

Yes, I think so. The plan is pretty modest and yet, I feel, quite unattainable…

1. Complete the Vanilla Mansocks
2. Use one of those two new balls, maybe two if things go well, to learn Magic Loop knitting on some plain stocking stitch socks
3. Begin the Teosinte socks again with that gorgeous Hug yarn from The Yarn Yard.

See you in November!

• The rubbish is out
• The laundry is on
• We have elected not to make bread today
• I shall be making chicken stew and dumplings later
• I plan to attack the workroom today
• and I would like to get my quilting homework done too.
• I would also like to take some WIP and FO photos but it is very grey again today.

But what I would really like to be doing is to light a fire (can’t) and curl up with: chocolate, a good book, coffee, and my knitting - on a regular rotation. A good three-hankie film would be nice too (but we don’t have a telly.)

Wake me up when the sun shines, please.

EDIT: still no Yarn Yard club yarn mailing… but I did get the letter inviting me for an interview for the job that I applied for. Apart from that, just junk, no swaps or other interesting mail.

Conker Feet are almost done. I finished the second slipper in bed last night. But I am not yet properly done - for when I say “finished” I have indeed done all the knitting and cast off, but have yet to apply the “finishing treatment”. I have the choice of crocheting an edge - and I don’t crochet - or, wait for this… picking up all the stitches that I just cast off and then casting them off again, but purlwise.

Now, that’s a difficult choice. I could crochet and make a mess or I can pick up and make a mess - because picking up it’s not my best skill. Let’s face it, if I plan to pick up all the stitches again, those slippers are going to languish at the bottom of my workbasket for many moons to come.

Now, where did I put those crochet hooks?

*quiver*