Socks and Scarves

Another Diamond Scarf completed, this one with Bernat Galaxy in a lovely pink and gold colour.



Two new books added to my library this week. Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns and the new Vogue Knitting.



I don't always buy Vogue as I don't find many of the designs to my liking but I do get a lot of ideas from it and this pattern prompted me to buy this one. Now, I have no inclination to ever knit a skirt, but this modular pattern would be fabulous for a scarf or blanket.



I was caught by the elann bug last week and received some funky shades of Fortissma and a few more balls of Harris Tweed.



And finally, I have been knitting more than just scarves! The Ladder of Life socks are finished. Very easy yet attractive pattern and quick to knit in worsted. These are my firt pair of men's socks, knit for my 16 year old!


Click here to enlarge.

Next sock pattern, which I will be casting on today is the Basketcase socks. I also have another scarf almost finished, this one is a feather and fan done in a white cotton/Silk blend. Both my blankets, the purple mitres and the bias blanket, are receiving a bit of attention in the evenings as I'm watching Season 2 of 24 of DVD.

A New Sock Knit-along!

Just found this group! The knit-along is based on the Socks,Socks,Socks book.


Yahoo! Groups : socks3kal

Amble Socks Finished

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Stats: I followed the pattern almost exactly as written, using 4ply fingering (vintage wool) and 60 sts on #1s. I did not carry the pattern down the heel and just used my normal heel and my normal grafted toe rather than the toe in the pattern.

Scarf-ing It

Busy week both with life and knitting. But I've been keeping the knitting simple. The Amble socks have one pattern repeat and a toe until their finished. Photo will come with the next post.

Started the Ladder of Life socks, these are an easy pattern done with worsted which I am really enjoying.

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Most of my knitting time has been filled with scarfs, these are quick, (almost) instant gratification.

A New Fun Knit

Amble Sock is coming along nicely, I have one done and the second one started. I really like this pattern and the stitches are showing up nicely on this not too dark red. I'm also amzed at how nicely the vintage KMart sock yarn is knitting up.


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Found myself another group to join! Iris Schreier of Art Yarns has a new book out and has a new Yahoo group to go along with it. I love modular knitting and am anxious to get her new book. The first kal is the original multidirectional scarf. These are so fun and fast to knit.


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This is some old worsted from my stash.

On the design front: I have the pattern worked out for these socks and am happy with the look of the stitch on #1s but I'm not happy with the size and feel of the fabric. I've now assumed this is because of the yarn Fortissima Cotton Colori, cotton doesn't have any give to it and this stitch is not working with it. So back to the drawing board! I'm looking for a wool yarn to try again.

Here you can see the stitch detail and how the pattern is working out. Since my camera won't do close-ups, these have been scanned. First picture is light and shows the true colour of the yarn, the second is darker and shows off the stitch detail a bit better.

Amble-ing Along

Feels like I have a lot on the go with my wips at the moment, making slow but steady progress. The 6sox Amble socks are going nicely, I like this pattern but it does take concentration, I'm at the point where I no longer have to read the chart stitch for stitch but I do need to glance at it each row to make sure I'm on track.

I'm using vintage yarn for this. Some 4ply fingering 60%wool/40%nylon made by KMart (can you believe it!). And it is very nice to knit with. Makes me wish for the good ol'days when even KMart made there own sock yarn.



Mail man was nice to me this week, too. Got a book from amazon and some Opal Rodeo I won in a drawing by the Canadian distributer of Opal.



Bias blanket is progressing, I'm getting close to having it as wide as I want, though I guess you can't really tell from the picture. This will be the last pic until it's done (or almost)



Design Ramblings: I'm working on another design at the moment. I've had this pattern in my mind for ages, I just love it. Problem is, it is a 13 stitch repeat and to have an even number of repeats with enough stitches I had to go to 78 sts and of course, I then needed to go down to #0 needles. It is working out nicely, but I'm feeling the stitch is turning out too small on #0's, I really do want to use #1's. The samples below are what I've done on #0's.

So, I'm going to try another sample on #1s with 5 repeats on 68sts. This is going to mean I'll have to centre 2 repeats with extra side sts over the instep, but I think I have an idea to compensate for the extra sts. This is turing out to be the most complicated design I've done, but I am loving every minute of it!

Note: My camera is acting up again, it just doesn't want to do close-ups, so these photos aren't as clear as I'd like.





Comments: Thanks for the comps on Friday Harbor everyone! Ines, my sock blockers are by fiber trends, but I got them from elann.

Two Friday Harbor Socks

Friday Harbor is finished. They turned out really nice, fit well and I love the feel of cotton socks. Can't believe I finally knit a pattern from this book. The kal certainly helped. Can you believe we almost have 100 memebers already!! The cuff lace was a bit tricky but after that the pattern was smooth sailing. I even had the pattern memorized which is something as I have a terrible time memorizing lace patterns.


Click here to enlarge.

I started another scrap blanket this week. I got the idea from Ines. Knitted on the bias, I am doing it in garter stitch so it lays flat and I won't have to add a border if I don't feel like it at the end.


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Next sock, is the sixsox Amble pattern. I've cast on and done about an inch of rib, so I'll wait until next post show a pic.

One Friday Harbor Sock

Finished my first Friday Harbor sock and am starting the leg lace on the second one. I followed the pattern for number of stitches and needle size but had to shorten both the leg and foot, so ignored the pattern repeat instructions and just continued until the length was right for me. I could only fit one of the small diamonds at the end of the foot. Then I did a round toe as the pattern called for as I had never made one on a sock before. I use that shaping on mitts all the time but not a sock. Anyway I did not like the way it looked at all, or the way it fit so I pulled it out and worked my normal toe shaping and grafted the end. I am pleased with it and like the way it both looks and feels on, I really do enjoy wearing cotton socks.


Click Here to enlarge.

The picture in my previous post is more true to the colour.

Other than these socks, the only other thing I'm working on at the moment is my August crochet exchange squares and the purple mitredness every now and then.

PS - Go take a look at the chevron socks that KnitSox made.

Knit-Alongs Begin!

August 1st is knit-along day! All my sock-along groups are announcing the Aug/Sept. Socks.

Six Socks group is knitting a gorgeous gansey sock. I have some solid red that I think I'll use for these.

Knitting on the Road group has chosen Friday Harbor for its first sock and I couldn't wait to start. I'm using Catania cotton from Schachenmayr in Lime.



The socknitters group has five knit-alongs. These are the three I think I'm going to do (this is subject to change): Basketcase Socks, Matt's Socks (pdf) and Ladder of Life Socks