13 January 2010 · 1 Comment
Thanks to everyone who left comments on the Craft Sanity post. It was great to see which patterns you guys like! As promised, the three winners are: Mariah, Bethany, and Carol in TX! I’ll be sending you all emails with your patterns later today.
11 January 2010 · No Comments
Over the past week or so I have had three, yes three pairs of socks wear out at the heels. One of them is an early pair of The Boy’s (made during that period of deeply unsuitable yarns I mentioned earlier). The other two are mine and were made a bit later and with more suitable yarns. Alas, even with appropriate yarn, socks are not everlasting. In all three cases I caught the damage when it was just a thin spot and not a full-fledged blow out. This means darning them isn’t actually all that hard, and I have very little excuse not to do it. I even have remnants of all the yarns. I just need to collect the necessary fortitude and dedication and actually do it. If I waver, I’ll just have to compare the time to make new socks (at least 20 hours a pair) versus the time needed to repair them (about an hour a pair) and brow beat myself into doing the right thing.
I am, however, taking the spate of holes as a sign that I need to buy some of the mythic ‘wooly nylon’ reinforcing thread. I’ve heard it’s perfect for carrying along with the main yarn while working heels and toes. My socks (and The Boy’s too for that matter) always wear out at the ball of the heel. I think it should be fairly simple to reinforce that area in upcoming socks. I may even take the reinforcing thread and work it into our existing socks in that area to see if it helps stave off future holes.
I’ve got two other small administrative notes. First, Wednesday is the last day to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of three free patterns. Second, a new sock is coming out either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week. This is one of the (many) secret projects that’s been depriving you of pictures over the last few months. It’s finally ready to go and will be here soon!
10 January 2010 · 3 Comments
One to go. I’m fairly madly in love with these. They started out as something calm and quiet and soothing and have transformed into something bordering on obsession. I haven’t actually knit on anything else since I cast these on. The second one is now on the needles and I’ve got the pattern mostly written up.
I’m writing this pattern in two different sizes and including instructions to either do that fancy instep swirly bit or do straight ribbing all the way down the foot. If you’ve fallen in love too and are itching to test them, keep an eye out on the Ravelry testing forum over the next few days.
8 January 2010 · 2 Comments
At its heart, knitting is just using sticks to tie string into an overly complicated slip knot. It really doesn’t take much in the way of tools. You certainly can go out and buy a closet full of supplies and gadgets, but you don’t need to. All you really need are needles and yarn. So if that’s all you need, why not use the good stuff?
That’s what I’m doing here. The yarn is Hand Maiden’s Casbah Sock in Pewter, and it is a treat to work with. It is a bit more expensive than what I normally buy, but it is absolutely worth it. The color, feel, and durability are all outstanding. The needles are my new Kollage square DPNs in a size 2. I’d been pondering these for a long time, but I finally gave in and am glad I did. They give me the gauge I’d get with 1.5s but are as comfortable to use as 2s. I’m a loose knitter, and tiny needles hurt my hands, so this helps me get a sturdy fabric.
The combination of really nifty yarn and super comfortable needles is making this a marvelous sock to work on, even though it’s quite simple. It’s the only thing I want to work on at the moment, in part because it’s so much fun to do and in part because I want them done so I can wear them!
6 January 2010 · 2 Comments
Gray with a chance of graupel. Yeah that’s right graupel. According to Wikipedia, graupel is “precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water condense on a snowflake, forming a 2–5 mm ball of rime.” Yup, you can guess what the weather is like around here. However, it is an excellent incentive to find some super soft, super warm gray yarn and make something cozy. I’m only an inch or two in but I love these already and I will be naming them Graupel.
5 January 2010 · 24 Comments
If you found your way here through the marvelous Craft Sanity podcast, Welcome! If you’re a regular reader and haven’t yet checked out Craft Sanity, you’re in for a treat. Head on over and take a look around.
I’m thrilled to be sponsoring the January fifth episode of Craft Sanity. To welcome listeners, I’m having a little giveaway. All you have to do is click on the Patterns link, pick your favorite, and leave a comment with its name. Easy as can be! Please do be sure to use a working email address (no one but me will see it, and I won’t use it for anything except to contact the winners). One week from today, I’ll randomly pick three winners and email them the pattern they named.
4 January 2010 · 6 Comments
As promised, pics of the finished socks!
Alas, taking pics in the snow is rather challenging. I thought the snow would provide a lovely atmospheric background and bounce lots of light around and make things all easy and pretty. Um. No. Not so much. Instead it was cold, kept falling on the socks and the camera, made the colors look funny, and just generally inconvenienced both the photographer (The Boy) and the model (me).
It did, however, demonstrate the astonishing insulative power of wool (in case there was any doubt). My feet were not cold at any point during this photo shoot (my legs were another story). I could even walk in the snow and it wasn’t really any colder than walking in shoes. However, it turns out snow sticks to wool in a rather astounding way. Two steps in the snow and I was a white fluffy mess. Now I take pictures in part to document my knitting and in part because it’s fun to play with the camera. But let’s be honest, I also take them to try and convince you to buy my patterns and make your own socks. This picture isn’t likely to convince you to do anything other than move to a warmer climate. I include it merely to demonstrate the amazingly velcro-like effect of wool on snow.
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