Out with the old and in with the new

stash down 2012!

I am quite happy to see 2011 in the rearview mirror.  It wasn't the worst possible year but it was a pretty difficult one for us, at least the first half with the whole unemployment/no money thing.  Here's to hoping 2012 brings much better things for us (steady employment would be huge)!  At least it was a very productive year for my crafting habit.

First, a recap of my goals for 2011, I have had them posted in my sidebar all year and have been checking items off as I did them.  So what did I manage to accomplish this past year?  Well, I did knit at least 6 pairs of socks in the year, as a matter of fact I finished 8 pairs and have had a ninth pair languishing on the needles for the past 2 months (it's a pair for Destucto boy and for some reason I just do not want to work on them).  Going along with the sock theme I also learned to do 2 at a time knitting, in fact it is my preferred method of knitting now, less counting!  I did a pair of toe up socks but prefer top down to ensure proper fit for my incredibly high arches.

I have been swatching for everything, although sometimes that still doesn't work out that well, frogging is my friend!  I did manage to knit at least one pattern from each of the books I owned at the beginning of the year, I have now added 2 more books to my collection and have a stack on magazines also that I need to knit something from.  I definitely worked on holiday knitting all year, starting in January and still finishing up today.

I kind of failed on the whole keeping current with scrapbooks, updating the blog every week, and losing some weight.  You win some, you lose some!

For the coming year I think I want to accomplish the following: make a quilt for Lil' Miss, make a quilt for my bed, make at least one holiday themed wall quilt (I want to make one for each month of the year to switch out on our family room wall), finish up the 2011 scrapbook, finish up Destructo boy's birthday book from 2011, learn to steek (yikes!), make sweaters with my sweater quantities of yarn before purchasing more (4 right now), and make socks/shawls/anything to use it up with all my sock yarns before buying more since the box won't close (11 colorways right now!).

So, do you have any goals for the new year?  Whether you do or not I hope the new year finds you happy and healthy and 2012 brings lots of love and happiness to us all!

Glynis socks redux

Remember how in my last post about these socks I said I was a bit off on the gauge?  Well, yes that 1/2 stitch per inch off on the gauge makes a difference, a pretty big one too.  After getting an inch of ribbing and 4 repeats of the lace pattern done I decided to try on the socks again.  It was a huge struggle to get them over my instep, nigh impossible, sigh.  I had to rip them entirely out and start over again.  So not happy about having to do that but the alternative of having socks I can't wear or that are only partially knit is worse so I began again with the next needle size up, a US 2.

Now that I have restarted them, they are coming along quite nicely, I only did 4 repeats of the lace pattern of the leg instead of 9 as called for in the pattern because I didn't want socks quite that high.  It seems that a 3-4 inch leg is what works for me and once I got to that point I started the heel flap.  I had to do 18 slipped stitches on the heel flap height, about  2 3/4" high.

The color is definitely growing on me, once I had the mental image of Shrek blowing big pink bubbles the colors make me giggle a little inside every time I see them.  It remains to be seen if anyone else will be as amused by them as I am.  The yarn is a joy to work with though, so soft and easy to knit.  It does get a little splitty but it's not a huge problem and thankfully my harmony needles are so pointy it's pretty easy to deal with.  Hopefully they will wash up and wear nicely too and if they do I will definitely be investing in more Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy sock yarn!

I am beginning to rethink the whole 6 socks in 2011 goal, I think I am going to end up with 12 pairs by the end of the year at the rate I'm going.  They may not all end up being for me, I just got some Knit Picks Felici in rainbow and tiki to make some socks for Lil' Miss, but I will definitely end up with more than 6 by the end of the year.  This would be why I sometimes lowball my expectations, I get so excited and happy when they are surpassed!

Another Sock KAL

So I started out the month of March by joining another sock knit-a-long, this time with the Sock Knitters Anonymous group.  One of their challenges for the month is lace, and lucky for me I have a spanking new Sock Innovation book by the uber-talented Cookie A. begging to be knit out of so here I go!

For these socks I am using my lovely new skein of Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Sock yarn that I bought for myself at the beginning of the year.  It is a truly interesting shade of pink and green, called magenta-moss on WEBS.  It truly is magenta and moss, with some browny-green thrown in for good measure.  I think it'll be one of those colorways that will grow on me over time (I have now decided it looks like Shrek chewing Bubblicious gum).  Happily I was able to split the yarn in half and get each sock started at the same color change.  I never would have been able to get the yarn split evenly without my yarn scale, I am getting a huge amount of use out of that thing.  Hopefully I'll get two matching socks rather then fraternal twins since I was able to get both started at the same color change.   

I chose the Glynis pattern out of the book as after perusing the projects on Ravelry of socks from Sock Innovation I decided that this pattern would look the best in self striping yarn.  My gauge is a tad tight, but really, how much difference will 1/2 stitch per inch make?  I think I'd rather they were a bit tight to get on then too loose. For some reason I am having a devil of a time so far keeping the pattern straight, I keep making mistakes and having to pull out work I just did to get it right.  Frustrating, but necessary.  Here's to hoping it'll get easier for me as I go along.

I make a bargain with myself

Weird I know, but I often tell myself I have to do a less desirable project to then get to do something that is more fun for me.  Am I the only one who makes these kind of little deals with myself?  And am I the only one who almost always keeps them?!  Anyhow, since I seem to keep dropping the scrapbooking in favor of new knitting projects I decided to put a stop to that behavior with a new little bargain.  Thus, I am not allowed to start another knitting project until I finish up the birthday albums and fall 2010 pages that are in progress.  It seems a bit ridiculous, I know, but I have a feeling I'll just keep putting off the scrapping until I run out of yarn (like that would ever happen!). 

So all I have in the way of knitting right now is my Austin hoodless Hoodie.  I guess that'll help encourage me to get that sucker finished too huh?!  On the plus side I am actually making progress on the pages, I already finished their birthday albums and have the pictures all printed out for fall.  The only part unplanned right now is the journaling (the hardest part for me for some reason, you wouldn't think it since I blog, huh?  You try to be brief and poignant every time and you'll get writer's block too I tell ya!) and since I have all the pictures for fall printed out and ready to go onto my already designed pages, I just have to sit down and do it.

Of course right after making this little deal with myself Knit Picks released their new colors of Felici, the bastards!  So in spite of a self-imposed halt to new knitting I have a shopping cart full of yarn at KP that I will be ordering fairly soon.  Sigh, excuse me while I go pull out my glue to finish up fall so I can get to work knitting down my current stash to make room for the new fibery goodness shortly to make it's way here.

New Socks!

I just finished my toe-up socks that I have been knitting along with the Knit Picks Lovers group on Ravelry (blogged about here earlier this month).  I used the Toe-Up Socks With a Difference pattern by Wendy Johnson with the motif from Pillars by Lisa Stichweh, knit with Knit Picks Stroll tonal yarn in Blue Yonder on 2.5mm needles.  They actually turned out quite nicely, I am rather surprised!  I thought I would have a lot more trouble than I did since I have these ridiculously high arches.  As it turned out I just needed to start the gusset increases a little sooner and do a few more rows to make room for those arches (I started 1/2" sooner than indicated in pattern and did 2 additional rows of increases).  That said, I do think I prefer cuff down, it is just that much easier to adapt the pattern for my feet.

The socks do fit comfortably, but as you can see they are pulling across the arch, the heel flap is being pulled in towards the top/toe of my foot to make room for that arch o' mine.  I maybe should have added in 2 additional increase rounds, but I am not ripping anything out now to do so!  I also might have made them a tad longer, but to be honest I was getting kind of sick of knitting them so crapped out and just finished them off, although I do like socks about this height I am finding so we'll just say I did it on purpose!

 As you can see I even got started on a secondary goal for the year, working on Christmas gifts.  I already got this little stocking ornament done and will be making a mitten and mini sweater ornament from my leftovers as well.  They are really cute little things and do help use up those little leftovers, although since I prefer shorter socks my leftovers are a bit more in yardage I believe than others have.  I wonder if I can make Lil' Miss a pair of socks from just under 200 yards of yarn?

Toes Up!

Got started at the beginning of the month with the KAL in the Knit Picks Lovers group on Ravely.  I am using the Toe-Up Socks With a Difference pattern by Wendy Johnson and am adding in the motif from Pillars by Lisa Stichweh.  For my yarn I am using some Knit Picks stroll tonal in the blue yonder colorway, I am absolutely loving how the colors are blending, such gorgeous blues, teals, and aquas.  It was a pretty easy start once I figures out the cast on.  One of the Ravelers posted this link for a video explanation of how to get TAAT started on magic loop, after watching it through twice I gave it a go and got my socks cast on with my first try.

I followed the instructions for the increases and then did an additional 4 rounds before starting the lacy motif on the instep.  I am really liking how they are coming along so far, but am worried about how to increase the gusset to make for a taller heel flap.  I was clued into this post from Wendy's blog (a great read if you love knitting!) where she describes altering her pattern (yes the one I am using, hooray!) to make room for a taller heel flap.  I think her adjustment may be a bit much for me, but it definitely gives me a starting off point to adjust the pattern to fit my feet.  Thank goodness for helpful knitters on Ravelry!  I wouldn't have had the guts to try toe up socks without knowing I could get their help.

 

I am actually a bit past where I was when I took the pictures, I am just about ready to start my increases for the gusset.  Wish me luck as I try to figure this next step out!

To scrap or not to scrap...

 Did you know I scrapbook too?  Well, not nearly as often as I used to admittedly.  I actually feel guilty for 'falling behind' on my scrapbooking.  Whose behind?  I guess my own self-imposed idea of how quickly I should get the photos in the album I suppose.  I currently have the pictures ready to go for summer, but need to go through fall and the winter holidays photos to decide what gets printed.  Then of course I do birthday books for each of the kids and of course I still have to do their 2010 birthdays. 

I was talking to Mister Vonkysmeed about it the past weekend, that I felt bad I was so 'behind' on getting the photos done and he asked why I felt guilty, and more to the point, why was I trying to force myself to do something I really didn't want to do.  I thought about it a minute and realized gasp that he was right had a point.  So I gave myself permission to do as I liked and proceeded to knit on my Chevalier mittens.

However, I am beginning to feel like working on scrapping again.  I will admit to as much of an addiction to appreciation of scrapping paper as I have with yarn, I love the pretty stuff and am tempted endlessly to acquire.  But I had already purchased the materials to finish up summer and fall of 2010, so I just need to get around to actually working on it, which I have actually started to do (yea me!).  Next up, getting those birthday albums updated!

Christmas knitting already?!

Yup, it is only 27 days into the new year as of this writing and I have already completed three little Christmas presents.  I found these awesome little patterns for ornaments and I think they are perfect for using up my leftovers from knitting socks.  My plan is to knit up one of each after completing a pair of socks this year, that way I'll keep up with Christmas knitting all year and use up my scraps, happiness all around!

The patterns?  Yes, all three are well written and easy to follow, it will be a pleasure to make them over again multiple times.  On the left is Mini Mitten Ornament by Andrea Kopacek, in the center is Cheers! by Cheryl Niamath, and on the left is Mini Christmas Stocking by Little Cotton Rabbits.  I was able to get all three done over the course of a Saturday in between dealing with kids and getting distracted by my computer from time to time.  I used sock needles sizes US 2 1/2 and US 3, and each ornament used up about 5.5 grams of sport weight yarn.

The stocking ornament is knit flat and even comes with suggestions for different fair isle designs (maybe I can learn on something this small?) which look really fun to try.  Looking at other project pages quite a few people have added initials onto the sweater ornaments a'la Harry Potter, which look really adorable, I think I'll give that a try too!  Hooray for keeping another goal for the year!

First socks of 2011

nobody can dig out the chocolate first with these neapolitans!

Yea!  I am on my way to keeping one of my goals with my first socks of the new year, only 5 more pairs to go.  I used the Carolina pattern by Monkey Toes with KnitPicks Felici yarn in the Neapolitan colorway.  I love them!  Okay, it figures that I make some nice warm squishy socks out of sport weight yarn and we have a taste of summer in the middle of winter (it is currently 76 degrees F in my front hallway, gotta love Southern California!) so of course I can't wear them.

that nifty eye of partridge heel flap, love it

Unfortunately I did get almost done with one sock only to realize my gauge was too tight and they were really hard to get on my foot.  Sigh, so I put in an order for some larger sock needles (can I tell you I was so disappointed with that!) and pulled it all apart to start anew.  Since I has to start over anyway I decided to use my newly learned TAAT technique that I had just started to figure out on the sleeves for Lil' Misses new sweater.  Knitting actually went rather quickly doing this, it only took me a little over a week to get them done.  The only thing I am kind of iffy on is the toe, I do like the eye of partridge pattern I knit but I feel that I should have switched to that earlier even if it meant I just knit a few rounds without decreasing yet.  Maybe it's just me but it looks a bit weird with the sock pattern going onto my toes, my toes are a bit squarish so it doesn't take too much to decrease for me and it just seems a bit sudden to my eye.

zoom, it's a toe!

Next up will be Toe Up Socks With a Difference by Wendy Johnson using the design element from Pillars by Lisa Stichweh with some KnitPicks stroll tonal yarn in the blue yonder colorway.  I plan on starting these next socks along with the Knit Picks Lovers group on ravelry as part of a February KAL.  I am really excited about these socks and am looking forward to learning toe up, here's hoping I can figure it out!

New technique for a new year

I want to try a few new techniques this year, not just knitting ones (which of course there are a few), but tricks to keep my life happier and absolve some of my guilt at letting things go too long this past year.  If you are curious as to what all of these are I listed them in the sidebar off to the left under Goals 2011, feel free to laugh and learn along with me this year!

I am already in progress on conquering one of my resolutions, learning to knit two at a time on circular needles (abbreviated as TAAT cause I really don't want to have to type all of that over and over).  I am currently knitting a Mi Escuelita cardigan for Lil' Miss, for which the yarn, Ella Rae Amity in aquamarine, was ordered last fall (yes, it's been sitting in my stash for a few months now, holiday knitting kind of got in the way!).  It is actually a really quick knit and I must say I am very pleased with it so far.  I have already finished the lower body of the sweater and decided to do the sleeves TAAT.  It was a total bitch to get started but now that I am a few inches in I 'get' why people like this way of knitting.  I am no longer obsessively counting rows and worried if my gauge changes from one sleeve to the other, and if they will look the same, etc.  It may go a bit slower but they'll be done at the same time, and I need to finish both sleeves up to the armpit to join them to the body and continue work on the top portion of the sweater.

Maybe I'll give TAAT a try when I finally decide to face the music and restart my Carolina socks languishing in my knitting bag.  They really are too tight and need to be redone, but I just don't have the heart to do it yet!

Sock Resolution

I'll admit it, I am addicted....to knitting socks that is!  I already have completed one pair, the ever popular Monkey socks by Cookie A., and am currently working on my second pair, Carolina by Monkey Toes.  Wearing handknit socks just makes me feel so decadent!  Probably the same feeling some women get from wearing fancy underwear.  I will admit, I felt a pang of jealousy at the last image in this post on Mooncalf's blog, oh to have a sock drawer like that!  So that's my goal, well at least one of them, to knit a sock every month (I know my limits and my level of laziness so a pair each month might be asking too much) so at the end of the year I'll have an additional 6 pairs tucked in my drawer to keep my toes nice and toasty.

My dear MIL got me off to a good start with my Christmas gift of knitting books, one of which was Sock Innovations by Cookie A.  Squee of excitement from me when I opened that little bit of joy!  Then later on Grumpy and Chatty-Cathy gifted me with some sock blockers and a skein of Imagination sock yarn, double squee!  I think they must have known about the goal fermenting at the back of my mind even then.

I am going to be joining in the toe-up sock KAL planned for February in the KnitPicks Lovers group on Ravelry also, which will be my second knit-a-long ever.  I just am a bit concerned about that style of socks fitting my freakishly high instep, remember my bitching when knitting my Monkey socks?  Anyway, while perusing the forums on Ravelry when girding my loins to start those socks I found a number of knitters cursed afflicted born with high insteps who reported that the heel style of toe-up socks didn't work for them.  However I have voiced this concern and am eagerly awaiting feedback from my fellow knitters as to how this obstacle shall be overcome.

Check out the nifty eye of partridge heel!

That said, I think a bit of cheating rule-bending may be in order, meaning the pair I have started and am working on will count as the first of my socks!  Since I haven't even finished the first sock that shouldn't be too much of a cheat, although they are on hold at the moment as my gauge has changed.  I may need to start them over anyway on larger needles.  So, do you have any resolutions for the new year?