One Baby Sock Done

The minute I finished posting last time, I realized I hadn't shared the story of the winding of the yarn Creamy into a center pull ball. Creamy is delightfully soft for something made of milk, but it's also very fine. It's possibly finer than most other yarns I've ever worked with as I've never worked with lace weight yarn yet. My husband had just finished winding a skein of my Blue Sky Organic cotton yarn into a skein, and it was about one in the morning. We were both watching some cooking show on TIVO and I asked him if he'd mind winding the skein of Creamy in the morning for me. He shrugged, put on another cooking show, and started to wind it then, which made me happy since I knew I could get a gauge swatch almost immediately then.

As a side note, my husband loves to wind yarn into center pull balls for some reason. I've asked him if he secretly wants to become a knitter and he admits that he'd love to knit, but he's afraid we'd become competitive at it. This is a legitimate fear, since I am competitive and he is also.

He started out the skein of Creamy fairly slow, taking two or three times to get a good start to the center pull ball. I had forgotten to give him the advice to really wind the yarn around your fingers before moving on to the next step when you're winding sock yarn or smaller. However, he got moving, while I was knitting on my baby blanket. I was half watching him wind yarn and half watching the cooking show, when I heard a "Uh..." Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed that he had dropped the hank of yarn from his knees and it was simply laying in a big pile on the floor. I cursed silently to myself, but tried not to panic, picking it up as best possible to avoid tangles. Too late! It took us a three hours of combined effort to fix that mess. We picked apart the knots as best possible often moving the yarn balls on EACH end we had started around each other and the mass of yarn. It was miserable. My husband kept apologizing, while I kept comforting him and offering to do the fix myself. I will probably let him wind sock yarn in the future, simply because I feel that once you've done this (and I've done the same thing with sock yarn) you learn a lesson about being careful with winding yarn.

Anyway, I'm now officially done one and a half Better than Baby Booties. I'm flying through them so quickly, I've been wondering if I should start the socks for Helen when I finish, or if I should start my winter hat. I am thinking that I might even cross-stitch a tiny bit or start my Slytherin scarf for myself. I wasn't expecting to have so much time before this baby showed up as YESTERDAY was my due date. Some quick notes on the baby sock pattern:

• The particular pattern I'm doing is the Cable Rib pattern.
  
  
• I disliked the ridge of stitches at the toe, so I kitchener stitched the whole thing closed instead for a more seamless finish.
  
  
• The pattern is slightly confusing. Around the cable cable that comes down the foot, you see at one point p1, work 2 stitches in cable pattern, p1, k16, p1, work 2 stitches in cable pattern, knit to end. Why does one cable pattern have purls on both sides and the other has a purl only on one side? I couldn't fathom this. I also couldn't figure out where they wanted me to place my damn cables exactly. Finally, after a lot of reading that line and wondering WTF they wanted me to do, I made my own decisions about purling and cable placement. On the first one, I work 2 stitches in cable pattern, p1, k16, p1, work 2 stitches and knit the rest. On the second one, I decided I wanted a little more pop around my cable and purled on both sides of it. This means that my baby will not have socks that exactly match.
  
  
• As I finished the first sock, I was so proud and so in love with its cuteness. I seamed in all the ends and stared at it happily. While staring at it, I noticed that one stitch in one of the cables was slowly, but surely, winding it's way up the sock. I panicked and shoved one of the needles into it while I tried to figure out where the hell I went wrong and what I'd do. I managed to pull the stitch back up to the toe area, put a piece of the yarn through it, and tied it into place, then seamed THAT piece of yarn into the rest of the sock. That's right, folks, I have no pride. I tied a knot into my knitting.
  

That's all for now. If you don't hear from me soon, I'm busy having a baby.

Baby Blanket Finished!

Realizing that once my baby gets here, I'd have little time to sleep, much less knit, I have been powering though knitting the baby blanket I had in the works for the last month. The design name is Sunny Cables and Crowns. If you're on Ravelry, which every knitter is nowadays, you can find out more about it.



It's a beautiful finished work, sunny and bright and cotton-y for a nice summer baby. I think it might be a little bit heavy, but I asked for it when I decided to knit with cotton, even soft organic cotton such as Blue Sky Dyed Cotton. For those of you who are curious, I used the Lemonade colourway which is bright yellow, a shade more saturated in color than my living room walls. If I ever chose to knit this blanket again, which I might or might not do, I'd probably pick a smoother washable wool (or wool mixture) yarn. While I love the finished work, and the pattern is very visible, obviously, I think a smoother yarn would have benefited the pattern. The close-up is almost unrecognizable as a cable and fan pattern. I used seven or eight skeins, I can't remember which, and I have a single skein leftover now, which my husband desperately wants to wind into a center pull ball. I have no idea what I plan to do with one skein of bright yellow organic cotton yarn. Sophy has a cute tassled hat pattern which uses one skein of this very yarn, but I don't think I know ANYONE who would wear a bright yellow hat. Perhaps I could make her hat pattern slightly smaller and give it to one of my beloved nieces. Anyone else have any recommendations on what to do with one skein of Blue Sky Dyed Organic Cotton yarn?

Speaking of Sophy, she has been knitting a ton of baby socks recently which have been adorable. The pattern is from Interweave Knits and is totally free (so long as you register at their site). Knowing that I'd be finishing my blanket in a day or two, yesterday, I cast on for the baby socks so that I'd be prepped with a new knitting project when I was finished the blanket. I know I shouldn't overlap projects like that, and clearly the knitting gods knew it too, because my cast-on and join went perfectly so long as you ignore the fact that I wrapped my working yarn around the needles twice and now the whole thing is a mess when I attempt to knit. I am clearly going to have to pull my one and a half rows off the needles so that I can re-cast on. This is depressing to me, but I have nothing but time as I wait for this baby to decide labor is a GO. Also, I've discovered the world of knitting podcasts, and now, while my husband sleeps, I can sit in bed next to him knitting. This was sort of obnoxious as I was finishing the baby blanket, as I had to keep moving the heavy nearly finished blanket around, but it should be fun now that I'm working on the socks.

The Podcasts I like best so far, for all you people who are curious about this type of thing, are Knit Picks and PixiePurls. Pixie Purls is a lot like me in many ways, so listening to her cheery voice talk about things I'm interested in and agree with is wonderful, but she does appear to have stopped the podcasts since the birth of her daughter. I've also been listening to LimenViolet which I find interesting but not exceptional. Christy has also recommended Lion Brand's podcast, but I have yet to give that a try, so I can't tell you whether it's good or not. I'm sure I'll be listening to it soon, however.

Lastly, I thought you might be curious, but I have OTHER craft hobbies. Or one, at least. I have cross-stitching.



The picture above is of HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS of work on a pattern by Mirabilia. I started cross-stitching way before I knit, even, but cross-stitch is a slow and tedious craft. The results are often kitschy and countrified too, which I don't care for anymore. Mirabilia is one of the few exceptions to that, and they have incredibly elaborate patterns, but the more elaborate, the more time it takes to make. I've worked on the piece above, off and on, since I've been married (three and a half years now) and I still haven't even gotten to the main part of the work!

That's it for now. I'll have more information on how the socks are going in my next post, as well as give you some details on my one project at a time theory. That is -- if I haven't gone into labor!

Simply Sock Yarn package

Today, my mother came over and was gardening at my house, which she loves loves loves to do. She considers my lawn simply another place where she can plant more flowers than she knows what to do with. At one point, I was inside laying about, trying not to feel tired and sore (pregnancy, how glamorous you are) when I heard a knock at my front door. Assuming I had mistakenly locked my mom out of my house, I rushed up and opened the door only to see a different postman than normal with a package in his hand as well as all of my mail.

I immediately guessed what the package was, and after thanking my nice postman, I ripped into the box from Simply Sock Yarn. Inside were several goodies, but let's start with the Lantern Moon rosewood needles.

I have an obsession with pretty knitting needles. When I first started out knitting, I had a ton of cheap-o metal needles, which are great for learning how to knit, but then I slowly started buying more and more fancy needles, including a ton of bamboo needles as well as several sets of Addi Turbos. (In fact, I refuse to buy any circulars besides Addi Turbos currently due to my horrible luck with circulars that have split at the join.) My ultimate luxury in knitting needle, however, is Lantern Moon's ebony or rosewood needles. If I could knit ONLY with them, I would. I hadn't known until I first hit Simply Sock Yarn's website that they even had tiny DPNs, but when I learnt that, an incredible desire for them formed. I decided to buy them as soon as humanly possible. Of course, after I ordered them, I found that Lantern Moon makes specific sock DPNs which I now desire.

My second purchase was two skeins of Lorna's Laces Semi-solid (or whatever it is) Shepherd Sock yarn. I plan to make my friend (and boss) Helen a pair of knee high socks. If I can find the issue of Interweave which contains these socks, I'll purchase the magazine (since it also contains the Montego Bay Scarf pattern which I've fallen for), otherwise, I'll simply buy the pattern when the time comes to knit this yarn.

I highly recommend Lorna's Laces yarn, by the way, if you're like me and you've accidentally felted more than one pair of hand knitted socks in the washer/dryer in the past. I've yet to felt any of the socks I've made with their yarn, and I've made plenty by this point!

My last purchase of the day was so gorgeous that I must put the picture in the dead center of this page.




It is Sleeping Dragon's sock yarn in Mossy Frog. This yarn is 100% wool, which I blanked on when I purchased it, but luckily it is superwash. I don't really like many of the Sleeping Dragon colorways I've found online, but I've been in a 'green' knitting mood lately, probably due to painting and decorating a full nursery in green, so I was enticed into this purchase!

If you love to knit socks, I highly recommend that you go visit the Simply Sock Yarn's blog to view their latest contest where you can possibly win some sock yarn! I had to enter, and you know what my favorite sock yarn is. I also recommend simply purchasing from Simply Sock Yarn! Unlike Knitting Garden (grumble, grumble) who held onto my money for MONTHS while I waited for some out-of-stock yarn, Simply Sock Yarn got me my yarn within two or three days. Mmm. Nothing like a quick fix of sock yarn. I wish they sold regular yarn too!

Visit to Yarnings

Decided to try and visit Yarnings today, since I'm feeling more into knitting and I love touching yarn. I went with a specific purpose in mind (sock yarn and, perhaps, Berroco Suede for Coachella.), and left with two skeins of sock yarn, several magazines, and some size 0 DPNs.

I was a bit disappointed because they did not have several skeins of Suede in the color I wanted, nor did they have Lorna's Laces yarn. I also totally forgot that I wanted to buy some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, which they did have!

So, here's some of the purchases I did make. I bought some knitting magazines. They had older Vogues for two bucks a piece. Since I want to expand my pattern library and at least one of the ones I picked up had a pattern in my Ravelry queue, I was happy to pick them up. I also picked up a Rowan magazine on the mistaken belief that I'll ever knit anything from one of them. I swear that I become beguiled by Rowan yarn and their pictures and then the next thing I know, I'm purchasing magazines I don't need and will NEVER knit anything from. I did ALMOST buy some Rowan tweed since I love all tweedy yarns, but I hate to buy yarn without a specific project at least in mind.



I fondled some Kollage yarn made of milk fibers that was called Creamy. I wasn't going to buy any (again, no project), then I remembered those adorable little baby booties that Sophy has been whipping up. Next thing you know, a small skein of the yarn is going to the front of the store, along with some bamboo size 0 DPNs. Why I'm buying the DPNs is beyond me since I've repeatedly said to myself that I'd prefer to either metal or Lantern Moon needles, but I buy them just in case I want to start knitting tonight!



Lastly, because I can't resist sock yarn, I picked up a beautiful greenish-blue skein of Koigu's KPPPM which I know knits up beautifully. I didn't need it, but it will look cute with some of my wintry shoes. I was so happy that I came home and put everything into Ravelry almost immediately, and then I went and bought more sock yarn at Simply Socks Yarn online store for Helen's socks.

A Spam Machine

Apparently, Blogger had to review this blog to make sure that I was not a spam site. I wonder what happened in my first post to trigger this fear?

Anyway, I'm rushing along on my baby blanket. It is supposed to measure a good forty-six inches long, and I measured it today and found that I was already at 20 inches, which is nuts. I'm tempted to cast on for a nice soft hat now, but I must stay on target. The hat can be done after Kittle. The blanket must be finished prior to Kittle!

Damn you, Ravelry, for having so many people posting non-baby projects that are just gorgeous.

In other knitting news, I plan to hit some knitting stores in my area this upcoming week, and I want to buy some yarn for Helen's socks as well as buy some yarn for socks for the baby and myself. Perhaps I'll buy some knitting magazines as well.

Failed Blogger

I'm a multiple time failed blogger, but the only time that I was even remotely successful was when I was blogging about knitting. So, why did I stop last time? After years of some interesting projects such as three baby blankets, three tops, and about fifteen pairs of socks, I decided I would knit my husband a Harry Potter scarf and do NOTHING ELSE. I eventually stopped knitting. I stopped blogging. I started to draw and cross-stitch and do other artsy things. Mostly I just sat on the internet.

After a bit of light prompting on my husband's part, I finally finished the scarf, and I was pretty proud of it, but reluctant to move to anything else. Then, two of my good friends decided they were going to have a child, so I started knitting them a baby blanket. As anyone who has ever knit a blanket knows, it can take a good long while, so I hunkered down on that.

By this time, I was almost over knitting. Then, I found out I was going to have a baby! I knew I had to knit just a few things for my own baby, including its own blanket and hat, and maybe a small wee sweater or socks. I finished the baby blanket for my friends Paula and Tom and ordered the yarn for a hat for my own baby. I told my boss, Helen, that I'd teach her how to knit, and I gave her one of my knitting books and some beautiful Cascade Pastaza yarn and some nice bamboo needles.

Bad luck struck at this point for me, I got a blood clot, and a nasty one and ended up in the hospital for several days. Bored, angry, tired of playing Tetris on the DS, I told Paul to bring me the yarn for a second sock I had never finished as well as my needles. Over a year earlier, I had made the first sock in a ribbing that I ended up hating beyond all belief, and I had refused to start a second sock pair without finishing this pair. The small, light project was the perfect thing for laying around drugged up in a hospital bed. I finished the second sock in two or three days. By the time I got home, I was in fine knitting form. My yarn had come for my baby's hat and it turns out my knitting magazines were easy light reading for the bathtub (where I spent most of my time), and knitting was a nice activity to do as it allowed for me to fall asleep into a drugged haze easily. I could knit in bed or on the couch. Since I could read my stitches easily, I never got lost on where I was.

By the time I had finished my baby's hat (or nearly finished it depending on my baby's eventual gender), I had ordered the basic yarn for my baby's blanket and started knitting that. By this time, I had gone back to work (while on blood thinners) and found out about something called Ravelry. I applied to join Ravelry and forgot about it. Then Bryan sent me a link to his friend Sophie's Knitting Blog where she had beautiful work, and the next thing you know, I was writing to her about her blog and listening to her discuss Ravelry.

I joined Ravelry a few days later, and then rapidly became OBSESSED with it. If you see this and you want to see my projects, I'm Septy on there.