Sunday, January 22, 2012

January/February Sock Progress

I've been quiet, I know. . .  Niece's 6th birthday party + Nasty cold + busy at work = no blogging.  My bad. But! I have come with good news!!!  

JANUARY SOCKS ARE DONE!! 

I finished them Jan 18th.  Ok, the ends are not sewn in yet and they haven't been blocked or photographed.  BUT the knitting is totally done.  Hubbiekins is happy to have a pair of kind-of-well-fitting socks for his weird feet.  Once I do have the finishing work done, I'll post pictures of the happy hubby wearing them.  
In the meantime, I started the February socks.  I'm glad I've started on them so early, there are a few things that make me feel a bit nervous about finishing them on time.  
1) it's a lace pattern 
2) they are on size ZERO needles, I've never used needles that small 
3) February is a shorter month (even though it's a leap year) 
4) I've been summed for Jury duty, Feb 23-May 23.  
Not sure if I should really worry about that last one.  I mean, I can knit while I wait at the court house, right?

Friday, January 6, 2012

Knitting in an Asteroid field


One of the many skills I had to learn in order to be the wife of a Lego fanatic was proper sticker placement.  I kinda already had this skill mastered due to my history with scrapbooking but, Legos are a bit different.  So the other night, between stickers, I worked on January’s socks.  I’m on sock number two.  I will not stress out over this sock until the 15th.  Why? ‘Cause I started this pair of socks on Dec 18th and I WILL FINISH THEM in less than a month!  I will start swatching for February’s socks soon. . . I will darn it!
But here are some pictures of the progress we’ve made
Sock number one just before I finished up the toe.
Millennium Falcon takes shape.


Luke and Vader battle my knitting needles in an alternate time vortex where they are on the same side.


Vader wanted a picture showing his "kill" &  Luke photo-bombed it.  Go Luke!



Monday, January 2, 2012

Negative Ease

So far I have made two pairs of socks using the book Sensational Knitted Socks.  I learned a lot of things while making that first pair.  Other then how to knit a sock, I learned about negative and positive ease and how/when to use one or the other.  The first pair of socks turned out to big.  I did all the things the book told me to do, I swear I did.  I measured my foot, swatched in the round several inches to get gauge, I even tried them on as they were being made.  But I decided that all was well, they would shrink in the wash.  Um, Hello? Earth to Sarah, you used SUPERWASH wool.  Key word here is SUPERWASH.  That ain't gunna shrink hunny bunny.  So now I have a pair of socks that I usually wear doubled up with store bought socks during the winter.  Nice, comfy, hand knit, and toasty warm.  These socks were made with a bit of positive ease.  The fabric covers the wearer but doesn't stretch, there is room to spare.
The second pair I made, I wised up.  I measured my foot again, this time subtracting a whole inch from the circumference of my foot so that the sock would be snug, the fabric would have to stretch.  These socks fit nicely.  These socks have negative ease.
January's socks have a good amount of negative ease and so far (he's had to try them on like three times already just today) they fit well.  I'll finish the toe up tonight and start on the second sock!  For tomorrow, I'm thinking Lord of the Rings marathon and I'll have the cuff and most of the leg of sock # 2 done.  YAY!!!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

So, it's been almost a year, almost, since my last blog.  Way to be consistent there Sarah. . .So here goes, my attempt to share the amazingness that is knitting with the world; my 2012 New Year's Resolution: 12 in 12'.  Let me explain that.  That's twelve pairs of socks, hand knit by me, one pair a month for the entire year of 2012. Ahha?  Whatcha think of that?  It usually takes me 4-6 weeks to finish a pair of socks so, this is a challenge for me.  Plus, I have a crap-tun of sock yarn that needs to be knitted up.  I've applied some rules for myself, just to make it interesting, at least for me. 

Rules
1. Finish one pair of socks a month.  
Key word is FINISH, not start.  So my plan is to cast on another pair of socks in the next few days so I'll have two on the needles.  That way if I get bored with one, I can work on the other, or if one is at a difficult-to-travel-with state, I can work on the other.  And no, I do not knit at work *cough cough*

2. Each sock pattern comes from the book Sensational Knitted Socks.  
Why? because I own the book, the patterns are easy to follow, and I can make them with any gauge so only one swatch, I hope.  If you want to learn to knit socks or already know but want some more options, check out this book!  All the math is done for you, all you need to know is that the author, Charlene Schurch, dosen't include 'negative ease'.  More on that later. . .

3. Each month is assined a color(s) that I personally associate with that month.  
Yeah, that's how much sock yarn I have.  You'll just have to check in with me at least once a month in order to see the different colors. :)

So tomorrow I'll show you pictures of what I have so far for January's socks AND some negative ease info.