Aww, they’re being shy!

Come on out!

Come on now! That’s better!!

I did it! Not only did I actually complete a pair of socks without one being snarfed by the Sweeter before the big blog reveal, I completed THESE socks - And not without some challenges along the way.

Circa February, 2007:

My gauge was pretty far off - (34 sts/4in vs the required 28 sts/4in on US2 DPNs) Somehow, I ignored this fact (maybe because I never actually swatched in Chart C - the diamond pattern - as instructed? I swatched first in the cable pattern and apparently got excited and also distracted, because if you’d have asked me, even right up until 5 minutes ago when I pulled out my little ruler, I would have sworn up & down that I got gauge!) I would caution you, that I have talked to a few people who’ve attempted these socks and come up too small as well; they may have shared in my excitement, but take your time with this one and CHECK GAUGE. Then check again by trying it on once you’ve knit an inch or two, instead of 75% of the sock! At least the boy looks happy in this picture (and don’t worry - although he kind of looks like he might be hungry, he’s not the sock eater)!

Pattern: Eunny’s Chuck’s Cabled Socks

Yarn: Lang Jawoll Superwash in Grey/Blue (0168) and Sable (0095)

Gauge: 34 sts/4in over Chart C

Needles: US2 Bamboo DPN’s

Amount of Yarn Used: A little more than one skein of the blue and less than one skein of the brown - I would be more specific, but I didn’t actually frog the original sock, so I started with partial skeins of yarn for the second try. The yarn was quite splitty and took a lot of abuse initially, so I wanted to start again fresh. I think I may have enough brown left for a pair of footees!

Mods:

- I added 2″ to the total circumference of each sock. The pattern calls for 4 cables encircling the leg - each with 6 strands. On the orginal sock, each 2-strand section measured 1/2 inch, so I added 4 strands to both the instep and calf cables adding an inch to each. I left the side cables as written - I love the way that they split and 3 strands continue on down the foot - beautiful! This worked perfectly for me, but if you are looking to increase the size be sure to test it out, you may not need to add as many.

- Heel mod - The pattern as written uses just one color for the heel of the sock as shown here - I chose to carry the diamond pattern through the heel for continuity and durability.

New Skills:

- Stranding with cables (If you can strand and you can cable, you CAN do both at the same time - If I can do it, you certainly can! It required some deep breaths and a leap of faith to start, but it’s absolutely do-able).

- Cabling without a needle, a skill that I picked up last year while knitting Co-op Cables (from Grumperina’s tutorial), is very helpful with this project.

- I learned about sock proportions with this project. I hadn’t really considered how the toe would work until I got there. In this case the toe decreases are on the sides, so the stitch count on the instep & sole should have been the same (it wasn’t!) When decreasing for the gussets, I couldn’t use the pattern numbers as I had altered the total stitch count of the sock to fit. So I totally winged it - I just decreased on every other round until it fit my foot. This actually worked out pretty well, except that I ended up with more stitches on the instep than sole. To compensate, I added additional decreases to the end of the cable section (where decreases already existed in order to compensate for the difference in gauge between the cables and the stockinette-knit toe) until the count of the instep matched that of the sole. I thought I may have added a few too many because it seemed like the toe grew just a smidgen as I knit it; but it seems to have blocked out just fine, so I’ll call it a success, even if it’s not mathematically perfect!

- Kitchener stitch - good god. This technique just seemed beyond me. Cabling in two colors? no problem! A little span of Kitchener stitch on the other hand, reduced me to a swearing mess. On my very first sock I attempted it a few times to much frustration and finally did a 3-needle bind-off instead. A little patience and KnittingHelp.com’s Kitchener Video set me straight (listed in the Basic Techniques section BTW - ha! Basic, my ass.) Ahhhh….. I now know the pleasure of a smoothly kitchenered toe and have another new skill!

Time to complete: A little over a month, the second time around. Truly, without so much going on, I bet I could have knit the pair in a few week’s time fairly easily. I may well knit them again! Believe it or not, this project became my relaxation knitting by the time I got into the second sock. The cable repeat is very easy to follow once established - it required enough attention to keep my interest and was visually satisfying, but no counting involved so I could knit along on it while conversing and participating in daily life. Just for the record, that’s not to say I didn’t have some cable crossings to fix (and even one or two that I might not have fixed in less noticeable sections - confession!! Believe me, I would have fixed them, but now I can’t even see it unless I’m right on top of them and I know where they are. If you can spot them in the pics, don’t burst my bubble, ‘k?) I’ve got some other very fun things to show you that have been going on around here along with this project, but just for right now, I’m savoring this FO. They deserve their very own post I think (since they overcame their shyness and turned into such camera hogs!)

Verdict: A wholly satisfying knit, and a beautiful finished product. This is the type of project I would love to design someday - not socks necessarily, but any project that leaves another knitter feeling the way I do right now. Confident in the use of some new skills, excited about a new lovely and useful item to wear, proud of how far I’ve come as a knitter - but awed and humbled at the same time by the incredible breadth of skills and techniques out there. I’m thrilled by all the amazing things I have yet to try which will most certainly take a lifetime (at least!)

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Now playing: The Frames - People Get Ready
via FoxyTunes

At Raven Rock last weekend - I knit in the company of friends at the Group Campsite:

Yes, thats Chuck no.2 - heel turned and starting on the gussets!

Check out tadandmel.com for a full report from Tad and some great pictures. I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this park - I’d seen pictures of the rock, but it’s really hard to capture it’s size. It was immense for our relatively flat piedmont area and despite the fact that one of the trails is closed indefinitely, there was still a good amount of hiking. We’ll definitely be back, this is another good hike-in option for camping. The day was absolutely perfect - not a trace of humidity in the air and warm but not hot - good excercise, beautiful scenery, good friends, a little knitting…. All in all just good for the soul!

Oh, BTW…..

As I write, Chuck’s Socks are blocking as on my nifty new coat-hanger-sock-blockers (I feel so accomplished - and thrifty!), and my Gryphon design is so near completion I would do backflips if I could!

By now I’m sure you all have seen the new Knitty (and what did you think?). I’m really enjoying this issue, as usual there is a variety of patterns and inspiration. I was a bit surprised in particular how much some of the accessories and socks are drawing my interest (perhaps it’s my current very divided knitting attention span!). Not there aren’t some lovely sweaters, mind you. I am smitten with a couple small-er projects in particular, and wanted to take a moment to call your attention to these two talented emerging designers (yes, there could be a slight bias there, but I really think you’ll like them too!):

Emilee, of Emilee Knits, whose lovely Foliage hats have me doing cartwheels! I was fortunate to hear a bit about these in advance and it was enough to make me long for the new Knitty so I could make up one of my own. I have some fall-ish yarn in the stash that has just been waiting for the right hat - this is just perfect!

Kathryn, who has both newly acquired sheep and blog (hurray and hurray!), presents Cinderella, a crafty sock of unusual construction. Now that I finally got have the whole sock thing figured out, here’s yet another new & fun thing for me to learn - and not such tiny yarn, Thank you Kathryn!

Damn. My knitting to-do list just got longer. Good thing these ARE small

Actually, this post is really just about hiking, but look! I knit in the woods (that’s Chuck no.1 prior to finishing)!

Oh yeah, Chuck no. 2? I couldn’t really sideline it, try as I might (see the % going up in the nifty new status bar over there?) Though I did spend the better part of this weekend knitting on my Gryphon Design, I’ve left Chuck no. 2 in the car for passenger knitting and have been doing about 1 cable repeat/day on the second sock. If I can continue at the current rate, I should have FO pics for you in oh, about a week or so…

Anyway, this is about HIKING! Tad & I camped out with the kids at Eno River State Park over Labor Day Weekend and had such a great time!

We’re doing a little Local Hiking Series this fall over at Tadandmel.com. Just wanted to warn you, because you’re likely see a few more pictures like this:

With links over to our home site to read more if your interested. I’ll end with a couple gratuitous Dog shots. Because they’re just Cute. And Furry. Let’s not forget Huggable. The kids in the tent:

For more info about Eno River State Park, details of our hike, and some actual hiking pics, click on over to Tadandmel.com!

Have you all done anything fun outdoors recently? What are your favorite things to do where you live?

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Now playing: Yo La Tengo - Green Arrow
via FoxyTunes

Hey, you! Have you got some lonely skeins of yarn languishing in your stash? I bet you do. Steph of Who Needs Gauge?! is in the second year of heading up a stitchers club at her school - She teaches the participants to knit (or crochet), and will be working with them on projects to be donated to charity. This year the group’s membership has grown to 32 students, and they are in need of yarn and supplies (got any duplicate needles/hooks?) so that everyone can participate. If you have anything you can spare - send Steph’s kids some of your stash! This is such a great concept and cause, and I can’t wait to see what they make!

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I’m working with the talented dyer/designer/fiber goddess Gryphon on my next pattern. Well, it’s time to get started - look what arrived in the mail yesterday!

Gaia, by The Sanguine Gryphon (Visit her blog and Etsy Shop)

This yarn is available currently as part of her luxury yarn club, and will be available for individual purchase in the future.

45% Cashmere, 55% Silk

1.9 oz/400 yards

Colorway: Turk’s Cap

Gorgeous!!

I’m quite thrilled to be working with Gryphon and her lovely yarns. I was fortunate enough to meet her in the spring at MDSW, and now I have the great opportunity to produce a pattern for one of her newest yarns, Gaia, a lovely handpainted silk/cashmere laceweight. I wound it up last night, and fell more and more in love with it in the process. The color is so complex and warm, and the yarn so soft and inviting in my hands. Speaking of hands - they need a good sloughing before playing with this! I can’t wait to see how it knits up - I must admit that I am a little afraid at how hard this small knit is going to be to part with - I wish these pictures could convey how…. exquisite this yarn is. Ahem. I think Chuck no. 2 has been sidelined for just a short while - the superwash simply pales in comparison with the cloud-like softness of the cashmere and silk. If you’ll excuse me, I’m feeling an undeniable pull to go knit.

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Now playing: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
via FoxyTunes

Chuck no. 2 was cast on in the company of the fine Chapel Hill Stitchers Monday evening while I decided what to do about the toe of Chuck no. 1 (I’ll elaborate properly in the FO post - I learned so much about socks with this project - and I even conquered kitchener stitch!). After getting some advice from master-kilt-hose knitter Heather and sleeping on it, I completed Chuck no. 1 last night, toe and all, and it is safely hidden from The Sweeter to avoid sock-tastrophe. And, as I’ve already got a start on no.2 (which commits me to finishing it), I felt like I could take a little knitting break! The title of this post does indicate that it will be about spinning of course, not my Chuck’s socks.

“Deep Ocean” Merino Tencel from Bonkers! in the background, and “Allison” Tussah Silk from The Flock Bransonas (sadly, their domain has expired):

They are both very fun to spin, in different ways - The silk is sticky and conducive to cobweb spinning; The merino-tencel soft and slippery.

I’m thinking….. Melanie’s Hanami? Anne’s Bee Fields? Gabriella’s Catalina? So many gorgeous choices, so many talented designers! Oooh - or Frost Flowers & Leaves? I guess we’ll have to see what kind of yardage I have to work with, and how the sample knits up. I anticipate that this will be a long term spinning project - I began working with the Bonkers fiber in July and still have an ounce or two left to spin, as well as most of the tussah silk. I’ll fit it in as I have been - predrafting a bit in car on the way to & from work & spinning a bit in the evenings here and there when I need a break from my current knitting project. I’m finally getting the hang of switching back & forth between my knitting and spinning, and it makes for an enjoyable change of pace, though it does mean that it will take me awhile to finish anything at all!

What a great topic for a post - I’m borrowing from some other great bloggers! I read Ruth’s best ever, and from there went on to read from zigzag stitch - great stuff, both of them.

My best ever knit to date is my dear Hot Lava Cardi from Blue Alvarez. It’s one that I don’t wear in public very often, due to the incredible amount of pillage, but when I want my comfies (you know what I mean - the exact socks, old jeans or sweatpants, shirt(s) &/or sweater - that outfit you reach for when what you want more than anything is to be toasty warm & comfortable), this is the sweater that I pull on.

Hot Lava was my first ‘real’ sweater - for me this meant sleeves for some reason. The sleeves themselves? They are much too long by most definitions, but I like them that way. My hands are perpetually cold, and the long sleeves help keep them warm. I’ve learned that I can’t cook it in, however, because I will inevitably get a sleeve in the soup.

This sweater was my first and only experience with Manos del Uraguay, and although I love it to death, it pills awfully here. Every so often I de-pill it, covering the bathroom floor with fuzz - I love this sweater enough to warrant the effort.

I love the dark green variegated colors, I love the long sleeves, and I don’t mind that it doesn’t cover my belly because I don’t have a problem with belly warmth - just my hands (and my feets!) In the winter, I tend to be found on the couch, wrapped in a blanket to my waist and wearing my sweater on top - only when I’m reading or snuggling with The Sweeter though, I found that the sleeves tend to get snagged on my knitting needles.

Now if only the temperature would drop by about 30 degrees, I could actually wear it.

So, I’ll end with the same question from zigzag stitch & Ruth - What’s YOUR best ever knit & why?