Knitting First - Socks

So, we've started vacation and have no travel plans - actually, no plans at all except day to day, whatever comes up. Knitting, sewing & blogging are high on my radar.

Here are a few of the pictures I mentioned - I've finished a few pairs of socks this year so far. But, I was really lax in keeping track of my stats so, just pics.

My new preferred TNT, I think - Hermione's Everyday Socks

SFTTU #10 - Lace & Cable (next project from Socks from the Toe Up - still lots of projects to do in this book)

Now, it's summer and, if at all possible, I do NOT wear socks - sandals, ballet flats and bare feet :-)
Sometimes, though, I need to wear my sneakers and it's much better all round if I have socks, preferably short footies. I wear a size 9 shoe, and sock manufacturers seem to stop just short of the length I need. In regular socks it's not TOO bad, but in footies it means they take no time at all to slide off my heel and into the shoe - not so comfy ! Wool blend sock yarn is too hot, but I had a couple balls of Patons Stretch Socks yarn on hand and decided to use this - there's wool but also 41% cotton which should make them not so hot. I didn't use a real pattern just cast on with my regular toe up, stockinette foot, slip stitch heel and did the cuff right after getting it all back in the round after the heel was done. I did have to allow for the stretch and so used a 56st foot rather than 60 or 64st for non-stretch yarn. They haven't been tested yet but there's another pair already on the needles.

Also on the needles now is a Haruni Shawl from the Crazy Zauberball yarn I got from DH at Christmas. It's coming along much quicker than I thought, been working on it about 3 weeks or so and I'm on the home stretch. Pics on that soon. Really soon !

Sewing - up next...

SFTTU #9 - Hearts & Flowers

No sewing going on, so I've got to use knitting for my posts. I remembered I finished a couple pairs of socks in the spring & early summer and never posted them. The first pair is the next in my Socks from the Toe Up project - Hearts & Flowers.

Stats:
Knit Picks Gloss Fingering - Burgundy
Purchased online December 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
CO May 12, 2011
JMCO 12 st each toe
inc to 64 st for foot
inc to 57 st at end of gusset
slip stitch heel
CO JSSBO Jul 3, 2011




Many tears here last week. Our 'other' kiddies visited us for a week while their daddies were away. Below are Lester, Sophie, my Alex and Kalani. On the day our friends returned, Sophie's right eye was in a bad state and they were faced with the most difficult decision doggy parents have to make. We're gonna miss you Soph girl.

It was all about colour

It was a draining 7-8 weeks at work and most weekends we had something or other to do. This weekend I didn't want to DO anything ! I wanted to sleep til I woke up and just do whatever I felt like. Well, today I did laundry and that was the only household chore I accomplished all weekend - no groceries, no cooking, nada.

Yesterday, I woke up at 4am and surprise, surprise I was actually awake and rested. There were hours of recorded shows on the PVR that needed to be cleaned up, including about 4 weeks of Coronation Street - yes, I'm addicted to 'Corrie' - my one and only soap. I grabbed my knitting bag and the remote and started playing episode after episode (8 total) while finishing up my latest pair of socks - SFFTU #8 Ribbed Ribbons socks.

First color of the day - lilac

Stats:
Knit Picks Stroll - Twinkle Heather (mauve/lilac)
Purchased online December 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
CO Jan 10, 2011
JMCO 13 st each toe
inc to 66 st for foot
inc to 57 st at end of gusset
slip stitch under heel
eye of partridge heel (thanks g !)
leg knit at 68 st
CO JSSBO Mar 12, 2011

At 8am my day really got started, DH was up and made breakfast (I HAVE previously admitted to being spoiled *smile*)

Then I decided that since I hadn't painted my toes all winter, it was time. I don't do a great job, but who can tell that far down LOL !
Color #2 - deep green

BFF made an app't for us to have haircuts next weekend. Well, my ever-so-helpful DH has mentioned that my roots 'glow in the dark' and I like to have my color done before I get a cut. I grabbed a box from the cupboard and he was pressed into service. He has been doing my color for years, does a great job and for now I do NOT glow in the dark !
Color #3 - burgundy-ish, purple...oops, no pic

Rather than cast on another pair of socks right away, I found my string bag that I'd started way back in Sep 2998 hello? 2008 - I had done the bag up to starting the shaping for the strap and put it down...it's on my UFO list, but it was in a drawer, out of sight, out of mind. It's not yet completely finished but it should be done tomorrow.

Sometime Saturday afternoon, I decided my nails should also be done. No pedi without a mani ! In the summer generally all my nails match, or at least coordinate - in the winter, not so much...Color #4 - purple

Color #5 White - we had snow at the beginning of last week, right before we got LOTS of rain to wash it all away. After work Monday, I let the dogs out back and looked up. That snow is hanging off of the roof way more than a foot past the edge of the roof line.


and the garage - that one's a 2-foot drop !


After mild temps the rest of the week, the roof is almost completely clear. We still have a long way to go, the snow piles will hang around for a while yet, but it's nice to think we got 30 or more cm of snow and 5-6 days later, it is noticeably less. Spring is coming :-)

I had my restful weekend - back to the grind tomorrow. Hope you all had a good weekend !!!

Socks !

3 pairs done but not yet blogged...in order of most recently completed...


SFTTU #7 - Trilobite Socks - I made these ones for me but finished them tonight at my SIL's - turns out they fit her perfectly & she likes them so I gave them to her !

My stats-
Cast on Nov 23, 2010
Cast off Jan 11, 2011 (counting as a 2010 project since on Jan 1, I only had 2" to finish!)
Zitron Trekking (XXL) Orange
Purchased at Ariadne Knits in Montreal, Quebec - February 12, 2010
2.5 mm needle
JMCO 28 stitches
inc to 66 st for pattern
Heel - sl st heel with the stitches offset by 1 - don’t know the name for it
JSSBO
Magic Loop - 2AAT

The only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at the beginning of each needle and knit that one stitch all the way up



Plain Vanilla sock with 2x2 rib leg

My stats -
Cast on Oct 15
Cast off Oct 30
Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards - Denim Color
Purchased at Michaels in Saint John, New Brunswick - December 2008
2.5 mm needle
Judy’s magic cast on
SS foot (62 st)
regular gusset
slip stitch heel
2x2 rib leg (64 st)
JSSBO
Magic Loop 2AAT



SFTTU #6 - On-Hold Socks

My stats -
Cast on Sep 17
Cast off Oct 15
ONline Supersocke 100 - 1129 (Yellow/Orange mix)
Purchased at Romni Wools Ltd. in Toronto, August 2010
2.5mm needle
66 stitches
Magic Loop 2AAT
Judy's magic cast on (JMCO)
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off (JSSBO)

only adjustment to the pattern was to make it 68 stitches on the calf - I added one stitch at either end of the heel needle.

Butterfly Socks - SFTTU #5

I figured I'd better get my sock log uptodate before the next pair is finished LOL

This is pattern no. 5 in Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up - Butterfly Socks

It was a LONG 6 weeks making these - I absolutely detested working with the yarn. There is a black thread running the length of the yarn and it's not really twisted into the yarn so it's splitty, and so easy to not pick up all of the yarn on a stitch. With all of the double YO's in the pattern, I didn't enjoy making the socks at all. It was just a matter of getting them done.

Now they're done and I really like them after all. When trying to figure out where to start each sock to make the pattern the same, I realized the changes between colors was extremely gradual. You'd need better eyes than mine to line them up ! I just gave up and cast on to let the pattern fall where it would. Turns out the socks coordinate nicely although the pinks and purples are offset by one pattern from one sock to the other.

My stats -
Cast on Jul 22
Cast off Sep 12
Regia Hand-dye Effect - 06553 (Purple)
Purchased at Tricot Quartier - Montreal, Quebec , June 2010
2.5mm needle
64 stitches
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off

From UFO to FO - Part I - Socks

Did you know that you really can't knit while laying flat on your back ? Well, I can't anyway.

Thursday morning a really nasty pain hit my lower back - I went in to the clinic thinking it was a kidney infection but it turns out that it's 'something' muscular. 'Something' ? what the heck does that tell me ? I either managed to sprain my back while typing (very strenuous typing !) or it is a muscle spasm...if the pain was in my leg well, then it would be a herniated disc. Lots of possibilities will the same treatment, lay still, ice 4x per day and meds for 7 days that put me to sleep - after which I would need physio if it's not gone by then. About an hour after seeing the Dr. it was in my leg and by late afternoon it was all the way below my knees. hmmm, herniated disc ? maybe.

I called the physio clinic where I go for my regular massage treatments and they made me a physio app't for Tuesday - better than waiting a week to see if the pain was still there and THEN calling for an app't ! In the meantime, I've been pretty sleepy from the muscle relaxants. Today is the first day that I have any comfortable movement - not painfree by any means, but less.

I'm able to sit up for a little while at a time and decided I'd better get some things done. 3 of those things being the 2 pairs of socks and the dress each with only a bit left to do to finish.

The socks were first on the list. The Skew socks have been sitting on the coffee table for almost 6 weeks laughing at me. I finally wove in the ends !


My stats -
Supersocke 100, colorway 1214
Purchased at Romni Wools in Toronto, Aug 2009
2.75mm needle
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on (my first attempt at this that it actually worked !)
Jeny's surprisingly stretcy bind off (love, love this bind off !)

Pretty pink diagonal stripes...



...and, the heels


2nd pair - SFTTU #4 - Tic-Tac-Toe-UP Socks

I made quite the boo-boo on this pair. I was making the size medium, but when I started increasing for the gusset I forgot to check the number of stitches and kept going till there were enough stitches to make the heel in the large size - there was no way I was undoing these in this dark yarn so I kept going and crossed my fingers. After all, the heel is not 'really' that much too big, the foot is a tad too long, but I can live with it. So far all my socks have tightened up in the wash, I'll just hope these do the same.

My stats -
Patons, Kroy, colorway Gentry Grey
Purchased at Michael's in Saint John, Dec 2008 (my very first sock yarn purchase)
2.75mm needle
Magic Loop
Judy's magic cast on
Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off




Part II - the dress...coming soon

Some finished items

WAY past due LOL but here, finally are the finished BWOF 04-2009-119 pants. These were started back in November (or was it October?). Anyhoo, I fit and adjusted a muslin 3 times and after all that, these pants don't fit ! Smiles in the front, and extremely snug in the back and over the front of the thighs. Actually, the picture looks fine - I just can't sit down :-)

I've asked for a bit of help over on PR and while I had already done some of the suggestions, I did not give myself 1" seam allowances and also did not allow that the muslin may have stretched during the fitting process.

So for my next pair I'll recheck the measurements, both me and the pattern, give 1" SA's AND use a stretch fabric.



Since I'd started these as part of my 2009 Wardrobe I added this pic to that album. Wardrobe Pics

This week I also finished my third pattern from Wendy Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up (SFTTU) - Diagonal Lace. I really love the orange.


A few more sock pics here

Next up -

Sewing - adjust the pattern and start another 04-2009-119 pants. I have 2 pieces of stretch bottomweight fabric I picked up off the discount wall at Fabricville a while back - They were about $1.50/m & I ended up with 5 meters. I 'could' get 2 pants and a skirt from them.

Knitting - I cast on the Skew Socks this morning in a pink/white/grey yarn I picked up in Toronto last summer. It has quite a wide striping, so the sock doesn't have the look I was expecting but I think I'm going to like the finished pattern - I just hope they fit. The pattern is for a size or so smaller than me so I went up 2 needle sizes and crossed my fingers. I put off starting this project because I couldn't make heads or tails of the pattern while reading it and thought it would require sitting still and only concentrating on it and so it would be only doable at home. Well, the pattern is broken down into manageable sections and I'm now on the foot, a 2 row pattern repeat for another 4 inches or so. These will travel with me after all :-) They will also be finished one at a time - I didn't want to attempt mirror image, diagonal patterned socks 2 at a time !
Have a good week everybody...

Weekend Progress - The 3-month socks

Yes, they're finished. The socks I started way back in October are finally done ! The time frame of course, had nothing to do with the difficulty of the pattern. They were actually quite easy. But, instead of being a main on-the-go project, they became a filler project. No sooner did I get them started than I put them down to do the afghan for my colleague, then I was in the midst of Christmas baking and then December was practically over. Since we were away over Christmas, I got quite a bit done but it took 3 weeks of picking up and putting down to get them off the needles :-)

On the plus side, I finished them Friday and wore them yesterday. They are the favorite pair so far ! They fit perfectly !

I must learn to keep an eye out when DH is wandering around with the camera, pictures of me are not improved by virtue of them being 'candid shots' - I was talking to him but not looking at him LOL ...

And that is how I knit, one furry creature (Skippy) flaked out beside me with his head hanging off the couch and the other (Alex) curled up in the afghan. They just need to be next to Mommy, I guess. Looking at them, you'd think they'd had an exhausting day wouldn't you - they certainly have a hard life !

And...the finished socks. Not on me though, this was a quick pic the minute I finished weaving in the ends. It was late, I went right to bed and the next morning when I put them on, I FORGOT to take another one. Must've been still sleeping.

Once the socks were done, I moved on to the Bristow Cardigan. I needed to split the fronts from the back, add a ball of yarn for each section and it's been waiting since Christmas.

All split now (still on one circular needle) and the armhole decreases are almost done. It's no longer a portable project. With 3 balls on the go, I don't want to deal with tangles so it sits on the coffee table and when I work on it, I turn from front to back VERY carefully. This was the best pic I could get. It wasn't laid out 'just so' so it's looking pretty wonky at the moment.

What else did I do ? I have yarn to make a winter hat. It is January after all and our -30C weather is coming. I even have a pattern picked out and it was scheduled in the queue (sp?) right after the socks were done. Here is the cast on....

Yup - 'nuther pair of socks - I'll get to the hat ... one of these days LOL :-)

Last post of 2009

It's been another busy week...

This year DH & I packed up the furbabies and headed to Toronto to spend the holidays with friends. We arrived Christmas Eve and will make our way home on Saturday after we recuperate from tonights' New Years Eve party. :-)

As is usual when we visit here, it has been all about the food (with a bit of shopping !) and the company. We've even managed some exercise - so to speak ! The new toy in this house is a Wii and it has been put to good use by all of us. Bowling & golf. It's amazing how much you actually do move ;-) *I think I want one*

Of course, my knitting projects came along with me.

My 'bristow' cardigan was started on Dec 2 using the brown Cascade 220 wool I bought this summer. The body was done on a circular needle and it is ready to be split for the armholes. I brought an extra ball to be ready for this but I decided, rather than doing the back and each front separately, I would do them all at once. Since I have to work on 3 parts of the sweater, only have 2 balls of yarn and don't want to use both ends of one ball, I need another ball to continue. It will wait til I get home, but here it is as it looks now...the shaping looks quite good if I do say so myself (first sweater I ever made with waist shaping)


My socks, though, have moved along quite nicely. These are the 'Lacy Rib Socks' from Socks from the Toe Up book. I've finished the foot, done the gusset, the slip-stitch heel and this morning, started up the legs.

It should go quickly enough now, that they could be finished before the end of next week.


Shopping this week - only 3 balls of yarn...

Arequipa - 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca, 15% nylon, 100gm, the color below would be accurate if it weren't shiny.


2 -50gm balls of Patons Kroy, Cobalt Jacquard, 75% wool, 25% nylon



As 2009 comes to a close, I would like to say thanks for reading everyone. I appreciate all of your comments and encouragement.

I wish you all a safe, enjoyable New Years Eve !

Time to catch up

Oh my goodness, I didn't realize October got completely away from me - only 2 posts !

So, what's been happening ?

I went to NB and spent a couple of days with my Mom & my family. Mom waited 3 days for the surgery to repair her broken hip. They did exactly what they would do, if she were expected to walk again, but in Mom's case, the Alz' is advanced so far that the hip will heal (without pain, hopefuly) but they won't be able to teach her to walk again. The most hope is that she will be able to sit comfortably and not be bedridden.

When I got there, it was 4 days after the operation and she was just coming off of the IV painkillers. She is physically recovering from the surgery but typically it was a drastic event for her and the Alz' has progressed yet again. My last email from my sister is that Mom has had quite a few down days. Not able to make her smile or laugh at all, which I was able to do during my time home with her. It's something, even though she can't talk it seems like you can communicate if you can laugh with her. She doesn't know any of us any longer - but I look at her & I still see my mum, it's heartbreaking to know she can no longer do anything at all - she must be fed, dressed, moved from place to place or even just rolled over in bed. The disease progressed so much faster than any of us ever expected.

My sisters, one in particular, handle this on a day to day basis. I can't even imagine the toll this takes on them. I do know that they were both very grateful to have a couple of days to recoup while I was there - I wish I could do more - But 600 miles may as well be a million - I get home when I can.

Sorry, I didn't expect to vent. Didn't think I needed to until I started to type.


Here are a couple of pics of Mom...

This one was taken in March at my Aunt's 100th birthday. She had a good day that day and seemed to enjoy the day. But I tell you, I would have to dig really deep to find any other pictures where she is looking right at the camera. She would always duck !

Three of my siblings are in this one. The guy on the left is my eldest brother. Next to him is my sister - the one taking care of all the decisions for Mom. My youngest brother is on the far right (with the camera).



This one was taken at my Dad's 80th birtthday in August 2008. That's my mom, my sister and my sister's two granddaughters. The baby was just a few days old.



I'm on my weekend now. Two weeks ago the company went through a major downsizing and just about all the staff got hit. Laid off or put on a short week. Luckily, I got a short week - 30 hours. 7.5 hrs Mon-Thurs, Fridays off ! It's a double-edged sword - I like the hours, but not the pay :-( Oh well, I still have my job.

Christmas baking is underway - anyone who followed me last year watched me make batch after batch of cookies. I need some for home, work and for my guests who come for a Christmas dinner early in December.

With some extra weekend time, I started early this year. Last weekend I made the ribbon (19 dozen) and candy cane (7 dozen) cookies. They are safely tucked away in the freezer waiting to be packed. This weekend the plan is to make the spritz cookies.

I'm also considering making cherry loaves to go with. I'll see and decide soon.



Projects - I've got a few on the go, almost but not quite finished. I'm hoping to have the 2 sewing projects finished and posted before the end of the weekend.

1) SFTTU socks - the 2nd pattern in Wendy Johnson's book (Socks from the Toe Up) is called Lacy Ribs Socks. I started these while sitting with Mom a few weeks ago. They haven't progressed much because once I got home, I went back to working on project number 2.


2) Baby afghan - this is for a colleague - she's due to begin Maternity leave in 4-6 weeks, so this is getting most of my attention for the moment. There is about 2 rows left on the 3rd ball of yarn. I want to add one more ball before I consider it finished.


3) The D$%$m shirt - I 'still' have to do the buttonholes & buttons !


3) Skirt - BWOF 07-2008-113 - this is in my PR Wardrobe storyboard - finished by Sunday ??? maybe.....stay tuned.


I found this link to make a personalized signature at Mary is Sewfast and had to try it out. Isn't it cool ? I just wish my actual signature was this neatly written LOL !

FO's ! and a plan

I didn't (and won't) finish my 3 objectives this weekend, but I did get some things done and already know I'm going to ramble on - this is either going to be very long or I'll split it into multiple posts. (update - it's really long)

Let's go...

1) Update on J's sundresses

J loved her sundresses and it finally got warm enough for her to wear them sometime in August ! Mommy sent me some pics mid-month.

She's a sweetie pie - I'm glad she liked them :-)



2) Socks - objective 1, complete

Wendy Johnson's, Toe Up Socks with a Difference - Blue Bamboo

The 'difference' is the gusset is on the bottom of the foot rather than up each side. The stockinette stitch was too plain so when I started these for the 2nd time, I added a k2p2 pattern.

These were finished before we went on vacation at the beginning of August but the first one I cast off was way too tight. They were put aside until I could figure out how to do a stretchy-enough bind off.

Last week, I was on the bus and plugged into the 'ole IPod ! Lo and behold the most current Lets Knit 2gether podcast that I hadn't yet listened to (I'm way behind) was about binding off toe up socks - how freaky is that ?

So, my credit for finishing these socks is two-fold - 1) for Cat for the podcast and 2) for Peggy of socknitters.com for her stretchy bind off for toe up socks tutorial which was the one I used.

Now they fit and the bamboo is so soft, I can't wait to wear them !





3) Socks (SFTTU) - objective 2, complete

I bought a copy of Wendy Johnson's, Socks from the Toe Up (from now on SFTTU) -
this is a good link with a blurb of the contents of the book. This isn't where I bought it, but I thought it'd be better to post a link rather than copy/paste anything from the book

There are 23 patterns in this book, which include 3 'plain vanilla' patterns you can use to get started or change the toe/gusset/heel to your own preference or just to use if your yarn is too busy for a pattern.

I couldn't decide which one to start with. I like ALL of them. So, the decision was to start at the beginning and make them all, one at a time (yeah, then I started seeing commercials for 'Julie & Julia' LOL )

I cast on the first pair (Dead Simple Lace Socks) in the car about 15 minutes after we left on vacation, Aug 2 - I finished them today - never said I was quick. My swatch was fine but the end socks seem to be just a tad snug. They feel ok but the pattern is stretched more on me than on the picture in the book. S'ok, I'll wear them, but maybe size up the needle for the next pair.





4) May Mini Wardrobe - BWOF 02-2009-125 - objective 3, not completed :-(

This blouse is still not done. Progress has been made since my last update about it. The fronts, back & sleeves have been sewn together, the cuffs are on the sleeves, it's hemmed.

The front placket is pressed, needs to be stitched down and buttonholes added.
The collar needs to be done.

Not much, but could take forever ! I'm working on it.
The problem is, when I bought the fabric I saw the blue in it and really likd it. Now, all I see is the black and don't like it as well as I thought I would. Maybe once it's done, it'll grow on me.

Here it is as it sits waiting for me to get back to it.



I MUST get this shirt done, because................

5) PR Wardrobe Contest - I really want to do this, but I have to get the shirt finished or I never will.

The requirement for the contest are:
- 5 tops
- 4 bottoms
- 1 topper

Rules - one fabric must be a print, all tops must go with all bottoms, topper must go with everything

Timeline - Sep 1 to Nov 30

This afternoon I went through the collection, pulled a bunch out and took them out to the deck to match up. (I'm going to miss the deck once it gets too cold to do this, the natural light makes this part soooo much easier)

After a bit of rearranging, adding and taking away pieces that didn't 'fit' and mumbling to myself, this is what I've got so far (ignore the stickies, I had to mark them so I could put the ones I won't use back in their storage space) :



Technically, although there are the right number of fabrics, there is one missing and one extra :-)
There is no fabric yet for the topper. Probably going to have to be black.
The extra is either the blue or green knit on the top right.

The bottoms, from top to bottom -
- black tone on tone stripe - Fabricville
- black tone on tone check - Fabricmart, mystery bundle
- grey/olive stretch denim - Fabricmart stretch bundle (doesn't look olive to me, and it goes with all the others, so...)
- black/grey textured wool - Bouclair (I wrote boucle on my excel sheet, but don't know how to tell for sure - it wasn't labelled)



Tops, clockwise from the green -
- green cotton rib knit - fabric.com
- sky blue cotton rib knit - fabric.com
- burgandy interlock - Wazoodle
- red/grey poly knit - Fabricville
- red broadcloth - Fabricville
- black/blue print cotton jersey - World Sewing Center (Toronto)



Now, I need to do 3 things,
- decide on the patterns
- decide on a fabric for the topper
- decide between the green & the sky blue knit (I think they both go with the bottom pieces, but I REALLY like the green better even though it seems really out of place with the other colors) - opinions anyone ?