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| June 28, 2007 @ 10:05 am |
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posted by kris
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Mom’s tabi socks
Woo hoo! TWO FO’s in one day! I don’t think that’s ever happened to me. Well, I did the toe on the last day, but still. TWO!
These socks are for my mom. I keep wanting to knit for my family but because they live in Hawaii, it’s hard to see them wearing wool socks. Even in the winter. So, I was throwing out ideas, and then my mom said that she would like tabi socks! Woohoo! I ran out and got some wool/cotton blends (scoured every yarn store in Munich with Elem). But I still thought it would be too hot, then Elem mentioned that he had the Panda Cotton that was given to him from fabz. He didn’t have plans for it, so it came home with me!!!
My mom really likes these socks, but I made them a tad too short. It will still work, but she has to keep pulling them up for the heel to be in the right place. She wasn’t around when I started to do the toe decreases. And I assumed the stretchiness of the yarn would make it ok.
I did the pattern myself. A simple 3/1 rib with a complicated Japanese short row heel. The heel was actually fun to do. Gave the sock more interest to me. I actually hated doing the separate toe (or maybe I just suck at it). But I will get my practice in because she has requested more socks! I think next time I’ll do a heel flap. I also had a hard time with the yarn. Because it is so stretchy, I had to knit with less stitches than normal. The normal pattern/gauge planning does NOT apply. I had to make it 4 stitches less. And the yarn was quite splitty, especially after a few frogs. But I loved the feel of it and it’s perfect for the hawaiian warmth.
Pattern: My own tabi sock pattern. cast on 56 sts, 1/1 rib for 10 rows, 3/1 rib for the rest, japanese short row heel.
Yarn: Crystal palace Panda cotton Cinnamon colorway, gift from fabz
Needles: Knit Picks US2/3mm classic circs
Started: June 12, 2007
Finished: June 25, 2007
My Italian Zoknis
Detail of EofP heel
You know, I posted pictures a couple of days ago, and didn’t have the energy to post a post in my blog. How sad am I? This pair of Zokni’s has seen so much of Italy. I did one complete side while in the Dolomites with my family, then did the heel and gusset in the Cinque Terre. I was sad that I wasn’t able to complete the 2nd sock in Italy, but oh well. It was too damn hot to knit. I don’t know how you guys in warm climates handle it! I had to keep washing my hands because the yarn would stick to my hands because of all the sweat and salty water.
I made these socks with an eye of partridge heel, since short row heels don’t really fit me. I love the eye of partridge heel, but I’ve never used it with anything colorful enough that it really sticks out. Also, this is the first of my Knittery merino cashmere skeins and it’s not as soft as I expected it to be. I think it will soften up after washing a few times. But I’m thinking because the Australian merino is much more rough than normal, that even adding some cashmere in there won’t soften it up!
Speaking of cashmere, all this time, I never knew where cashmere comes from. Is it even wool (yes, I am that stupid)? So I had to look it up and it comes from a goat! How awesome would it be to have one of those and pet it every day? Get one of those, get an angora bunny and there you go! Hobbledehoy Liz has one and it is SO CUTE! Of course, I am too damn lazy to take care of such lovely pets. Even if it is cashmere…
So, without further adieu, here are my Zokni’s!
Pattern: Zokni Socks by Pepperknit. I used a 7sts/in gauge and did an eye of partridge heel.
Yarn: The Knittery Merino/Cashmere sock in Passion Fruit colorway
Needles: Knit Picks US2/3mm classic circs
Started: June 10, 2007
Finished: June 25, 2007
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| June 25, 2007 @ 1:36 pm |
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posted by kris
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 Our first stop, Riomaggiore. We parked our car here (20 euros a day ack!) and just walked through. We didn’t like the lower parts of the town, but the upper parts were really nice.  Manarola, the 2nd town that we visited. We stayed overnight here and didn’t like it hardly at all. People were very rude and it was so damn hot!!! But it sure was pretty at night and there is a really nice playground here that our boys would’ve liked.  Manarola in the evening. It’s a gorgeous city on the outside.  The 3rd town, Corniglia, that we visited. This is the cat town and I’m so sad that we didn’t stay here. This is the cat town where at 5am all the cats come out and roam the town. The shops all had a cat theme, so cool! The people were friendly and we discovered foccacia sandwiches here. So yummy!  Ah Vernazza, the heart of the Cinque Terre. It is a really picturesque town and friendlier. AND it has internet woohoo!!!  We hung out on the harbor until 11pm and it was so romantic!  Our last stop, Monterosso. It was very resorty and expensive and way too many people. We had the best foccacia sandwiches here though. So I brought my knitting with me and lugged it all across the Cinque Terre. We hiked through the whole way and stayed in Manarola and Vernazza. We’re so glad we did it, but it was way too touristy for us. Inspired by Linnea and her Jaysock, I decided to do the same with my Zokni. I didn’t get much knitting done, I just basically did the heel and the gusset. It’s so funny because after I finished the eye of partridge heel, I found out that Pamela also did the same!!! If you remember, I picked this pattern because of her and it turns out ours are going to be similar. How weird is that? Weird in a good way, of course. Knitting when it is hot sweaty is no fun. I had to frequently wash my hands because the sweat and saltiness(?) made the yarn really stick to my fingers. I’m sure people probably thought I was so weird to be knitting a wool sock while it is so freaking hot. I am really shocked and kinda sad that there were no other knitters on vacation there. I was hoping that another knitter would come up to me and we could talk shop. But, sadly, no. The good news is that Zokni is almost done…can’t wait to finish!!!
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| June 17, 2007 @ 12:50 am |
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posted by kris
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Which one looks better?
Perfect fit!
So Elem and I were chatting on Skype and he saw the picture of where I rehanked a skein of Sheepaints yarn. I was just bored and wanted to see what it would look like. Elem has rehanked some skeins too and it seems like ever since he got his swift and ball winder, he just does this all the time. He like hanks instead of balls (get your mind out of the gutter), so he turns all of his balls into hanks (yes, that means you). So he got me started doing this. I really like the look of reskeined skeins because the colors mix together and it gives you a closer representation of what it would look like knitted up.
Being the weirdos that we are, we decided to name the group “Hank Wankers” and immediately got censored on flickr (woo hoo, we’re THAT risque)! I know we’re going to be the only ones putting up pictures, but I think it’s a great idea. I know I would like to see other people post pictures of rehanked skeins! Or I should say hanks that have been wanked!
I mean seriously folks, don’t you think the yarn looks better reskeined? A lot of german dyers don’t do it that way. I guess it’s a waste of time that they could use to dye. So, here we come to the rescue! :)
I also had a great idea while chatting with him. I was thinking of putting together something called “a taste of germany” and it would include one skein of sock yarn (or lace or whatever) of all the indie dyers that i know of in germany. That’s maybe 10 dyers. So it would be maybe 100 – 120 euros + shipping. I guess that is quite a bit. Maybe rotate dyers – like 5 instead so it would be 50 – 60 euros + shipping for 5 skeins. I know *I* would like something like that! And then I could have it themed like “blues” or “reds” or “sunny” or whatever. You know what I mean. The handpaints in Germany are cheaper than in the states (even with the euro conversion and shipping), and there’s some good stuff out there that is basically unseen in the US knitting world. I don’t even know if there’s anyone interested in something like that. So if you are, please leave a comment and maybe I’ll look into it further. I wouldn’t get any money from it, it would just be a service that I would pass on to fellow US knitters who want to “taste” germany. I could see it being useful to the dyers getting their yarn seen and the customers getting lots of different yarns!
Anyhoo, enough of my rambling! I finished one side of the tabi socks for my mom. It fits her perfectly and she likes it a lot. After I got the stitch count right, it was really quick. Even the toe part wasn’t that bad. I am up to the heel on the 2nd sock, should be done in a couple of days. It’s so weird to see the big toe in it’s own separate cover, kind of lobster like, especially in that red/orange color!
I so desperately want to cast on for another sock, but have been good and resisted temptation.
By the way, broke the yarn diet again, this time I have no excuse. Well, when the Yarn Pirate says she’s having a sock club, I mean, c’mon!!! Can’t say no, right? Even when signups are at 3am German time. It’s the Yarn Pirate!
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| June 15, 2007 @ 9:41 am |
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posted by kris
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Zokni and Springrass
Tabi socks for mom
I have cast on waaaay too many socks and not finished them. I guess it’s 2nd sock-itis. Here is a rundown on what I have going on.
So, the first WIP is my Springgrass socks. I talked about them in another post, so I’ll just post the picture update here. I am done with one sock and I’m not sure when I’m going to do the other because I CANNOT FIND THE BALL OF YARN! Yes, I know that sounds like an excuse to not finish the other side but I swear it’s the truth. Really. OK, I didn’t look super hard, but it wasn’t in the normal places. I’ll probably find it soon since I have to organize all my tax papers to send.
Next WIP is my Zokni sock. I got the idea to knit this one from flintknits. Hers is just gorgeous! I did it in The Knittery merino/cashmere sock in the Passion Fruit colorway. Love those colors! The leaf pattern doesn’t show up as well as if I did it in a solid, but I love it anyway. The warmth this sock generates is pretty amazing! Even with the lacy holes!!! I did it with a 7sts/in gauge. I did it with 8, but it was way too small. 7 fits perfect! I also did an eye of partridge heel that turned out really great. I love this heel style!!! I started this one on the train to Italy. And the next day I already had one side done!
Next WIP is my mom’s tabi sock. My first non-wool sock! I started this one because I have to finish it before my mom leaves in a couple of weeks. I wanted to make her socks but Hawaii weather and wool socks just don’t go together. So I got some Panda Cotton in Cinnamon colorway from fabz (well, actually fabz gave it to Elem and I stole it from him). I really like how this yarn feels and I do like how much it stretches. But because of that, I had to frog it a couple of times because it was too big, even though my gauge and sts were correct. And because I frogged it a lot, the yarn became unplied. It really does unply fast. That’s the only complaint I have about it. For the heel, I did a japanese short row, and it turned out great.
That’s all the knitting updates I have for now. I am going to cast on for yet another pair of socks, this one is going to the famous Billy Reid!!! Well, he’s famous to me! :)
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| June 9, 2007 @ 9:32 am |
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posted by kris
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Finally done!
I managed to finish Michael’s Gentleman’s Fancy Socks right before we left for our family vacation. They are obviously from two different skeins, but neither of us care. I’m just glad it’s done. Michael remarked to me the other day that he’s happy he has so many hand knitted socks because now he doesn’t have to care when/how much he wears them because he knows he’ll always have more. After I knitted his first pair of Jaywalkers, I forbade him to wear it all the time. Now I’m hoping he does so that he can wear all these new socks that I’m churning out. Too bad he refuses to wear lace patterns because then he would have a WHOLE LOT of new socks.
Pattern: Gentleman’s fancy socks in Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Blue Parrot colorway
Needles: Knit Picks US2 classic circs
Started: May 18, 2007
Completed: June 9, 2007
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| June 1, 2007 @ 12:41 am |
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posted by kris
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 Don’t you just love the stripe pattern?  Bottom of the sock I am currently working on my Springgrass socks and I am really loving the way the STR is striping. I originally was doing the Falling Leaves pattern from Knitty but I didn’t know of a way to cut down the sts, and the pooling was kind of ugly (or at least I didn’t like it) so I frogged it and started this sock. The pattern isn’t a full sock pattern, so I’m using Baudelaire as a “base” sock, but I’m going to make the heel 18 – 20 rows (haven’t decided which), and also maybe try and eye of partridge heel. I am liking this sock so much that my new Jitterbug came in and it’s waiting until this sock is done! I frogged it a second time because I started the increases too late. It’s so hard to judge these things.
Pattern: Springgrass Socks by Craftoholic. She only gives the lace pattern, not full instructions. So I am making it using 64 sts. Haven’t decided on a heel yet. I wanted to try eye of partridge.
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight in Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway
Needles: Knit Picks US1 classic circs
Started: May 29, 2007
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| May 27, 2007 @ 10:45 pm |
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posted by kris
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I am busy working on our pet project, the podcast! IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN FOLKS!!! There’s a lot of planning, brainstorming and cursing at equipment that goes on that you don’t anticipate taking up a lot of time. But it does. I don’t want to give out any specific details about it until the first episode is up. But, as a teaser, I’ll tell you this… we have a name, a theme song, a logo, and a really cool format. We are recording tomorrow and hopefully it will be edited and done by tomorrow night. I’ll post again when it’s ready, so stay tuned. I think it will be so much fun and I hope y’all will like it.
As for knitting news, I finished my Hedera with yarn to spare – cool! It’s nice to know I can get two ankle+ socks out of one hank of Wollmeise. They are fantabulous and I just love the Sonne color. I may even have to buy one more skein.
I’m still waiting for my Jitterbug yarn, so I started Falling Leaves from Knitty.com in Socks That Rock Lightweight Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway. It is pooling quite a bit, but it’s ok. I haven’t taken pictures yet. Bad, bad.
Anyway, must get back to pet project. Stay tuned…
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| May 25, 2007 @ 1:10 am |
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posted by kris
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 Woohoo! All done! My Hederas are done! I really enjoyed this, it was a really quick knit, but OMG, the gusset is huge. I think if I do this again, I will reduce the flap to 20 rows instead of 24. I used up my leftover Wollmeise Sonne. It’s really good to know that I can get two pairs of ankle+ socks out of one skein!!!
Pattern: Hedera by CookieA
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle Sonne colorway
Needles: Knit Picks US2 classic circs
Started: May 21, 2007
Completed: May 25, 2007
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| May 22, 2007 @ 4:17 pm |
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posted by kris
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Hedera in Wollmeise Sonne
I am on day 3 of my yarn diet and so far, so good. I did catch myself meandering over to the posh yarn website thinking that I NEED to get some cashmere yarn for Michael’s mother for Christmas. Then I remembered that I can buy it in September with plenty of time to spare. Whew, that was a close one. I am doing remarkably well so far, I don’t have any yarn envy (yet) and am genuinely happy for other people and their acquisitions. But the real test is one or two months from now.
I have the Gentleman’s fancy sock on hold for now as I await for my 2nd skein to arrive. I really should’ve just bought Elem’s one instead of ordering, but I also needed more mini-blockers for gifts. So, while that one is on the side (I did finish one side already), I am making Hedera socks for myself with my leftover Wollmeise Sonne yarn. I am really loving the color/pattern combo. I love this bright yarn! I used to get more darker and muted colors but lately I’ve found myself buying the brightest and most colorful stuff I can find! I think I’ll have enough yarn, since the Monkey’s that I made were a little above the ankle, and these will be as well. Only time will tell.
Also, at the last SNB, 3 of us knitters started discussing doing a podcast. It was Elem who brought up the idea and said it would be fun and we all rallied around him. It was soooooo much fun thinking up names and different ideas, so we’ll see what happens with that. We’re just in the process of throwing around names/ideas/format, so it’ll be a little while before we do anything. We want it to be crazy like L&V, but try to have different things and of course bring to light yarns that we have in Europe. I am kind of the boring one of the group, the “mother hen” if you will. The other two are hilarious and it is always endless entertainment for me to listen to them and their stories. So stay tuned…
Oh, and also, my SP found out who I am. Dang it all…I guess it’s so hard to be secret since the knitting community is so small. Especially when I don’t hide my pictures of the projects that I’m making for her AND I make something unusual like Gothic Spires!!! But really, what gave me away was the mention in L&V. I think she saw Elem’s site, and then he linked to me, so there it is. Hi Tini!
