hopieknits

It's been a long time

It's been a while since my last post; almost three months.  I haven't even been reading blogs as much as I usually do.  I don't know why but I suppose that after two years of blogging it's good to take a short break.  I took a break from knitting too, for the most part.  I did make a blanket for our newest grandchild, a girl, Madison Chase, compliments of my stepson and his wife.  I love having new babies in the family.  They love about 45 minutes away from us and we hope that we will get to see Miss Madi as often as possible.  I don't know if I really like the blanket though.  I made it with Lion Brand Cotton Ease because since she's a Spring baby I thought she'd need a lightweight blanket. I'm not sure I like it though.  There's something about the shape of it, it's too wide or too short or something.  Her mother wants her name embroidered on it.  I'm not the world's best embroiderer.  In fact, I'm not an embroiderer at all.  But I am going to try to have it done by a professional. 

I also started a sweater for my friend Valerie's newest baby boy who was born at the end of January.  But after checking out the latest photos of him on Facebook, I think I need to make a larger size.  He's a big boy! I don't know if I have enough yarn to make it bigger and I haven't had the chance to check but since I'm in a knitting mood, I've been knitting washcloths.  I've made three so far this week and it's the sort of mindless knitting that is fun, easy and immediately satisfying.  Of course, I want to be knitting something else but there's so much going on in my life at this point that I can't make a decision about anything, so washcloths it is.  Not so bad, custom made washcloths are a luxury.

 

It wasn't so bad after all.

I've been doing a lot of bitching about my participation in the Sock Madness competition lately but now that I've successfully completed the socks for Round 1, I'm able to sit back and evaluate the experience.  As much as I hated the Afterthought hell, I mean heel, now that I've done them I can appreciate the learning experience.  I will probably never use this method again but at least I can say I've done it once.  I also learned that I can make a pair of socks in a few days if I really want to and I didn't even spend every waking hour knitting.  The bonus is that I now qualify to move into the second round of the competition, (there are four) and my competitive juices are really flowing now. I may make it to Round 3 cause I don't think I have a chance of winning the whole thing or even making it to the end.  You wouldn't believe how fast some folks can knit socks.  Next round I'm going to try knitting two at a time since that seems to be the faster way of doing things.  Anyway here's a photo of my new Tropical Mer-Tini Socks.  I didn't like the pattern at first but now I kinda like them.

Sock Madness 3 is making me crazy!

As I mentioned in my last post I am participating in this year's Sock Madness competition. Last Thursday we received the pattern and the race was on. It is now after midnight Monday and I'm still questioning myself, trying to understand why I am doing this.  I am not the greatest sock knitter nor the most passionate one.  But I am somewhat competitive and I guess I want to see how far I can make it in this event.  One good thing has come from it. I am being exposed to new techniques.  The cast on is a new one on me, Twisted German cast - on.  I've never heard of it before but of course there is a video on You Tube demonstrating how to do it.  It's a nice stretchy cast on, which is just the thing for socks, but it hurt my hands to do it.  I don't know if I was using muscles I don't normally engage but my fingers were aching when I finished casting on.

I had bought some beautiful Koigu KPPPM in a lovely green color and knitted all the way to the heel before I decided I didn't want to use this yarn for this pattern.   I was thinking that I would finish my first sock on Friday, but I panicked when I saw something called the Afterthought Heel which made me want to throw in the towel, so I frogged it and didn't pick up needles again until Saturday when I decided I'd try again with some gray Patons Kroy sock yarn from my stash.  This time when I reached the heel I didn't panic but referred to some very helpful directions found in the Sock Madness group on Ravelry.  Seems like I wasn't the only person having a problem with the heel. Even now that I've made my way past it, I'm still trying to figure out why one would want to use this method to make a heel.  You leave a big hole in your sock and then go back to it later after you've completed the toe.  I'm doing it but for me, once I finish the toe and kitchener it together, I want a completed sock.  I don't want to have to go back to the heel. But then I read that this technique is one from Elizabeth Zimmerman and who am I to question the First Lady of knitting?

I started on the second sock even though I haven't completely finished the heel on the first.  Luckily only 10 people in my division have completed their socks and the first 40 who finish move forward to the next round.  Hopefully I will be among them.  Here's what the first sock looks like at this point.

It's not the greatest photo but the sock fits well.  Now if I could just finish the heel.

Sock Madness or Just Plain 'Ole Crazy?

I received an email yesterday from Shameka with the subject line, are you interested? Since I don't often get actual emails from Shameka I opened it immediately to find information on Sock Madness 3.  Now I didn't even know that there was a Sock Madness 1 or 2 but I followed the link and read about this challenge.  I'm not certain I really understand it completely, I'm a little dense when it comes to things like this, but you know what I did?  I signed up!  Don't really know why, but I'm a little intrigued to see how I do.  My only previous experience with challenges was Ravelympics and I have to say I don't think I completed even one project.  Who won that thing anyway?  I'll have to go look it up.

In any case if anyone reading this is interested in signing up for SM3, you have until Friday, March 6 to do so.  Hey if I can do it anyone can.

Thank God for Knitting!

I don't know about you but knitting is sometimes my refuge.  Whatever I'm going through I can submerge myself in knitting and zone out for a while.  It's a meditation that calms me and clears my head.  That's what it has been this weekend.  I won't bore you with the details, everyone has stuff to deal, but suffice it to say that I've had to call on my emotional and physical reserves over the past few days and knitting has been my resting place.

I can't show you what I've been working on this weekend, it's a surprise, but I can show you my finally completed Lifestyle socks. Can you tell that one is bigger than the other?  No matter, I will wear them anyway, in boots though because I really don't like the way they look.  I'm going to have to learn how to match with self-striping socks.

I also forgot to post a photo of the Malabrigo socks I made for my daughter.  She so loved the socks I made for her last year that she has worn them to shreds.  I wanted to try the Malabrigo sock yarn which is beautiful, but these socks were a trial. They're the first pair I've made using a chart and it drove me crazy.  It took some of the fun out of making the socks, but I do like the finished product.  I also reinforced the heels with Regia yarn.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

  

Erikka's Malabrigo Socks

Color: Rayon Vert

Pattern: Rhombus by Andrea Weinrick

Needles: Size 2, 29" circulars

I still have challenges ahead but thankfully I have enough yarn to get me through. The good thing is that a lot of folks will be getting surprise gifts as I work through the issues.

I'm honored.

The lovely ladies at 2 Sistahs Knit Together have honored me with a nomination for the Kreativ Blogger award.  I read so many incredible blogs, I'm sure mine is at the bottom of whatever list has been compiled.  I will however nominate those that I think do an incredible job of knitting, blogging and generally keeping me wanting to do more and better.


Here are the rules for the nominees:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 8 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

Here are my nominees:

Monique
Chante
Eryka
Lupie
Deborah (already nominated by Cici and Chelette but it just proves how deserving she is)
Norma
Fran
Donna Lee

Now go visit them and enjoy!

2009 is a strange knitting year

At least for me.  My last post recounted some of the do-overs that I've been plagued with this year.  Now even my do-overs need doing over.  I finally completed the second Lifestyle sock and then proceeded to frog the top quarter of the first one so that I could repair the mysterious hole that appeared there.  And what happened when I picked up the stitches to re-knit the sock?  I found out that  when I made the first sock, I altered the pattern slightly.  So instead of casting on the 64 stitches that the pattern called for, I cast on 56.  Now you'd think I might have noticed a difference between the two socks as I was knitting the second one, but not me.  I just couldn't figure out why I was using more yarn in the second case. That's what I get for not making notes and also for waiting so long to finish a simple pair of socks. So what, you ask, am I going to do?  Nothing.  I will just have a pair of socks where one is slightly larger, than the other one.  Of course my plan to give the socks to my bonus (step)daughter is out of the question.  I'll just have to make her another pair.

Now we come to my stashbusting project.  I've had a little less than one and one-half skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in my stash for over two years.  Browsing on Ravelry I came across a lovely pattern called Just Enough Ruffles.  A great little scarf and one that seemed perfect for the amount of Ultra Alpaca sitting in the bin.  I casted on Wednesday and by Thursday I was more than half way finished.  It  became clear however that I probably wouldn't have enough yarn to complete the scarf, so I rushed off to The Skein Attraction, my LYS to purchase an additional skein in the same color.  I knew it wouldn't be the same lot # but I thought if anything I could use the new yarn for the ruffle and it might be interesting if there was a slight difference in tone.  It was my good fortune as well, that the Ultra Alpaca was on sale.  Knitting continued Thursday night and by the time I fell asleep, I had the slight hope that I wouldn't have to use the new skein at all.  I just might make it.  But as my current knitting luck would have it, I ran out of yarn just as I was binding off the 600 stitches of the ruffle.  I didn't run out at the beginning of the row.  No, that would have been too much of a good thing for me.  No I ran out of yarn with 42 stitches to go.  I think I used one yard from the new skein.  So my effort to use my stash, I didn't make much headway.  

The good news is that I love the scarf.  It's soft and warm and interesting looking. It was fun to knit too, even with having to bind off 600 stitches.

This pattern is going in my stable.  I've already taken advantage of the yarn sale and purchased more Ultra Alpaca so that I can make a couple more scarves just to have for last minute gifts.

I guess I should 'fess up completely to say that this week has been a yarn-filled one.  Despite my best efforts, I've been lured by yarn sales that I couldn't resist.  In addition to the one at my LYS, I also investigated a new yarn shop in Jersey City,  The Stockinette Cafe, where all the yarns were 30% off and since I have new baby clothes making to do, I bought some Sublime yarn for the projects.  Nicely priced too, especially with a 30% discount.  I bought three new booklets too.

Of course, I've visited The Skein Attraction at least three times this week.  The first to check everything out and make a list to check all the yarns out on Ravelry.  The next time to buy 6 skeins of Muench's Touch Me yarn.  I have coveted this yarn forever and although I would have preferred a jewel toned color, at 50% off I had to settle for what I could get,  Charcoal.  The next day I went back fo the additional Ultra Alpaca as described above but then a sock yarn caught my eye so I bought this,

Zitron Trekking. I had a good reason too.  I have to make socks for my bonus daughter and her favorite color is blue.  I didn't have any blue sock yarn in my stash and it was on sale.

Today is the last day of the sale and I needed to make certain that took full advantage of the sale.  So in addition to buying more yarn for the Just Enough Ruffles scarf, I bought 8 skeins of Cascade, Venezia Bulky , in black, destined for a sweater for my daughter,Francis Revisited.  I would post a photo of the yarn but the ones I took were absolutely awful.  

Never let it be said that I can control myself at a yarn sale.  After paying for the yarns described above, I passed by a bin containing Tahki New Tweed  and decided that I would be foolish not to buy the beautiful brown tweed yarn just lying there waiting for me.  No one will call me a fool, I bought the 6 skeins and promptly came home to find if anyone on Ravelry had any with the same dyelot in their stash.  I was fortunate to find someone with 5 skeins, unfortunately, she doesn't want to part with hers. 

Well that's enough, except to say if anyone has any Tahki New Tweed, color 059, dyelot 7051, let me know.

Stay blessed.

Do Overs

2009 seems to be turning into the year of do overs.  First I had to frog and re-knit my holey Jitterbug socks.  Then after finally starting work on the second Lifestyle yarn sock,(the first was made in February of last year), I noticed that the first sock has a hole in it.  I don't know how this happened.  The sock was in my sock drawer.  Is it possible that a moth was in the drawer and nibbled a hole in it?  Do I have some sort of bad sock karma?    You can't see the hole from afar.  All you see is a perfectly good sock. A sock that I was planning to give as a gift to my bonus daughter.  But look...

that's my thumb sticking through the hole in the sock.

 I was breezing through the 2nd one  when I found this and it immediately made me stop working. I'm going to finish them.  I'm going to try to do it this week.  It's an all stockinette pattern, Nancy Drew socks, so the knitting is easy and I just started the heel but the thought of taking out knitting that I've already done just gets to me.  Thankfully this wasn't the toe up pattern I was going to use.  Then I'd have a lot more unraveling to do because I don't know how when you have to unravel from the beginning and not from the end.  Which brings me to the next project that has to be re-done:

Last year I made a quick surprise sweater for my daughter.   She loves the sweater but it's too short.  It's supposed to be, but she didn't feel comfortable wearing it because it shows some belly at times.  So I have some yarn leftover from the project and decided I could just add on some ribbing to the bottom.  Not!  I worked for 5 hours last night trying to take out stitches so that I add to the ribbing.   I think it will be easier to just make a new sweater.

More do overs of knitted items. Last week I made what I thought was a nice earflap hat  and mittens for my grandson, Brandon.   Yesterday I went by to see him and give them to him. They were made from my stash, using a skein of luscious Malabrigo, that I've been holding for months.   The mittens are fine.  The hat however is too small.  Can you say frogging?
I thought I knew what I was doing. I used a pattern that I knew was a little too small for him but thought that the difference in gauge would make up for that.  That's what I get for thinking.

He loved his new mootons, as he calls them, but the hat leaves a lot to be desired.

Let the do overs begin. Ugh!