Wee & A Little Bit Twee June 21, 2007
Posted by La in FO, Miscellaneous.add a comment
Eve’s Rib Baby Socks
Pattern: Cable Rib Socks from Better than Booties Baby Socks by Ann Budd
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential superwash merino in Burgundy; leftovers…approx. 1/4 ball if that
Needles: US size 1 [2.25 mm] bamboo DPNs
Mods/Comments: The pattern calls for just a plain ribbed edge at the top of this particular sock. To me this looked unfinished, so I did a picot hem instead. Gawd, how I love the way that particular hem treatment looks! It adds just a sweet twee flair to an already adorable wee little sock. I really like this pattern and I plan to use it again and again, now that I have yet another baby on its way. It’s cuff-down with a simple YO short-row heel and toe. And because you turn the toe from the bottom of the foot and over, the zig-zag bind-off gives me yet another technique for grafted toe avoidance, and we all know how I love me some of that!
Speaking of toze, you gotta see this!
Here’s the place I was planning on putting another jigsaw puzzle for your enjoyment, but on todays trip around the bloggerhood, I saw that Turtlegirl (which is pretty cool and you should go play) beat me to that idea. Well, I can’t very well post it now, can I? Unless I WANT to look like a dumb lame old poser who couldn’t find an original thought if it jumped up and bit her on the boob. Can’t have that now can we? I’ll just have to save mine for later. But it was a really REALLY cool one, and knit-related to boot. Oh well, fodder for another day!
Before the Parade Passes By… June 13, 2007
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And here I bet you thought last week was it, huh? Wrong!
Another Effed-Oh!
Stats: Felted Roman Socks aka Udones
Pattern: Plain toe-up (Turkish cast-on) in garter stitch; 60% heel
Yarn: 4 (KFYS) Balls [50gm/231 yds. each] Knitpicks Palette in Nutmeg; Doubled
Needles: US Size 4 [3.50 mm] bamboo DPN
Today’s Lesson
Felting is Forgiving
What’s wrong with this picture?
Because of the perspective (read shitty photo skillz) it’s difficult to tell, but if you guessed that the sock on the right is at least 10% bigger than the other one, you’re right! I took careful notes when knitting the first one, and followed those notes to the letter for the second. That leaves just one possibility: Tension. Basically, my attitude towards these socks came out in my knitting, meaning Meh, boring-squared… WONDERFUL!
You will also notice that there are the heel-turn-meets-instep holes that usually drive me absolutely batshit, so much so that if and when they appear, you can usually find me tugging on the stitches around it to make it disappear. Yup, the felting took care of that too!
Actually, because the yarn was doubled and I was knitting them on size 4s instead of size 1s they did knit up MUCH quicker than the last pair. But all in all it was still a slog, and I’ll be taking a slight break from garterstitch udones just so I don’t get totally burned out and end up hating thus swearing off them forever (like I did mohair, for which I’m about to get served a meal of my own words with a side of crow…).
Pre-felted sock; sandal (btw which I LOVE) included for scale
Today’s Alternate Lesson:
Cheap & Shitty does not easy felting make…
Yeah, it took 2.5 trips through the washer to get these puppies to felt down to the correct size. I had initially intended to hand-felt them, but after 15 minutes of working with them with nothing to show for it except steam-reddened, cramped hands and 2 very wet, soapy socks I said screw this, and chucked them into the washer. BTW, all the .5 in the 2.5 trips just means I sent the over-sized sock through a third time. Just another screaming example of “you get what you pay for”. You’d have thought I’d learn that one by now!
Even after all this whining and complaining I am quite happy with the way the finished product looks, and so was the recipient. The toe-up in Turkish and Magic Cast-ons are soon becoming my favorite Bitchener Stitch avoidance technique, and makes perfect sense when you’re making socks with a rolled cuff. I LOVE how the 60% heel, when felted, becomes more of a heel cup, which works out great for guys who will be sporting these in the oh-so-fashionable socks-and-sandals-with short skirts look, especially when the sandals or calcei are hand-made out of leather and whose soles are embedded with hobnails, giving added protection against wear and tear due to rigorous marching and hiking that would shred average hand-knit socks.
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In celebration of the success of my first ever felted socks, I went out and bought several sets of these little beauties…and you should too. At those prices (she should easily be charging more), how could you pass them up? AND they’re hand-crafted by Sarkasmo. Well, what are you waiting for?
You only have yourselves to blame June 7, 2007
Posted by La in FO, Pets.add a comment
You were cautioned you the day before yesterday, so if you’ve fainted from utter amazement and disbelief, it’s your own damned fault, cuz, guess what kids?
That’s right, we’ve got another Effed Oh!
Stats:
Pattern: Kitty Pi from Wendy Knits
Yarn: 10 balls total [60 yds per] Elann Peruvian Pure New Wool;
8 balls Raspberry, 2 balls Navy
Needles: US Size 13 [9 mm] Denise Interchangeables, various lengths
Mods/Comments: I wanted the project to be a source of stash suckage, so I doubled the yarn (initially I spelled that y-e-a-r-n) and took the needle size up to 13s. Otherwise, except for one other rather obvious modification*, I followed the pattern exactly. This knit up faster than I expected, only requiring a few Tivo’d episodes of Voyager.
The doubling of the yarn and the second wash made for a wonderfully thick, less floopy fabric. At the last minute I panicked, thinking I may not have the right sized and shaped form over which to block the bed, but after much searching (and crawling around on hand-and-knees in the cupboard under the stairs), I found the perfect thing: one of my dyepots, inverted.
I like the fact that it turned out with decently-high sides, and is more bowl than platter-shaped. So, do you think Sassy uses it? Uh…
The Cube of Fortification
Yeah. That would be a resounding no. She sniffed in its general direction once, then promptly turned her tail up at it. Since she LOVES sleeping atop my recently worn PJs and yoga capris (aka fat pants) I stuffed some in the bed, to no avail. Next, I think I’ll stuff it into the clothes hamper and leave it there for a week. Then see what happens. Any suggestions? If she STILL shuns it, I may just give it to that well-deserving bit of fluff, Ike, or Sassy will contest it off. We shall see.
*The complete and utter absence of anything fun-fur,
or anything fun-fur like,
or anything thinking about being fun-fur,
or anything contemplating aspirations to maybe one day possibly remotely resemble fun-fur…
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And some cheesecake for Chaos…
See? Even Momoze got in on the action! And here’s yet another!
