Day 28 – One pair down, fourteen thousand to go

After posting yesterday about my stash, I decided that I would sort out my sock yarn to see how much I really had. It’s a sad, sad, sad state of affairs when your sock yarn out numbers the money in your bank account. True story.

I also decided that I would get busy and finish the socks I have on the needles. The one pair are a simple toe-up knit 3 purl 2 rib with a single rib cuff and really don’t take long at all to knit. And the other pair are a toe-up in a box stitch pattern and don’t take long to knit. I figured out the reason I didn’t finish that pair is because I was trying to figure out which heel would be best suited for that pattern.

Considering how small socks are it’s amazing how many options you have to knit them. My go-to is a toe-up sock because I like trying them on as I knit. The other advantage is that you can see how the thing is going to look on the foot so if you have a complicated pattern in mind it’s good to be able to see if it will work or if it will be uncomfortable. Also some patterns, like cables, pull the pattern in so you need to add stitches to accommodate for the loss in width. If you don’t do that you can end up with a sock that is too tight and the cables end up stretched out. Not a pretty sight. I also like toe-ups because I’m lazy and I don’t like taking the time to kitchener stitch the ends together. Yes, I am that lazy.

My go-to heel is usually the wrap and turn heel (Knitty.com has a very good article on socks and discusses various heel options). I like the way it fits my foot and I find it a quick way of turning the heel. I also find it easier to remember. However, if I’m using a dark sock yarn then I go with a flapped heel because trying to see those wraps on a dark yarn with bad eyes is a lesson in frustration. And since I have enough frustrations and knitting is supposed to be relaxing I say forget that crap and go for simplicity.

So I’ve had a really productive day. I got one pair of socks finished and off the needles, blocking on the floor in the family room (heated floors are wonderful for blocking knits) which by now are either being sat on by a cat, dragged around the floor by a cat, or bunched up in the towel against the wall by a cat. Heated floors may be great for blocking knits. Cats? Not so much. I don’t mind the hair, I figure it makes them warmer but I do like to have the knits that I took the time to lay out on the floor to look like someone cared for them instead of like they were used to mop spills. I generally don’t pin socks for blocking and if I have a bigger piece(s) that I need pins for I put it up on the wide bookshelves we have. Cats don’t like pins and I don’t like vet bills so I think it’s best to keep the two separated.

The sock stash filled two bins. One bin full of Patons Kroy and the other bin is full of misc. sock yarn of various wools and cottons. Well, I did say that Kroy is my favourite sock yarn, didn’t I? And this is my favourite colourway. It knits up into a nice striped pattern of red/brown/grey that I find very appealing. It may not be exciting but I like it. But I like red in all its glory and variations so anything that has a bit of red in it generally gets my attention.

This is my one of my current favourite knitting books on socks. This is my other favourite. I love the Finnish Paivatar Socks in the Knitting Socks from Around the World. I love the colour work and the toe and heel details. I would never knit them in white. Around my house socks that start out white end up grey in no time. We have a dog and that means the floors are sometimes not as clean as they should be so white socks are worn rarely around here. And I love just about every pattern in Around the World in Knitted Socks. You do have to have experience in knitting socks in order to follow these patterns, though. Stephanie Van Der Linden includes basic instructions with clear pictures at the back of the book which is very welcome.

One of the best sources for good solid knitting patterns is my perennial favourite, the local thrift store. You can usually find old Patons Beehive booklets for next to nothing. Some that I have found are long out of print and those that aren’t, well, you can’t beat the price. My favourite of these is the Socks, Mitts and Gloves for Children booklet. It has good basic patterns that are easily modified to make something truly unique. I also like this book for the same reason, simple basic patterns that you can customize anyway you like.

I knit socks in fits and spurts. When fall rolls around and the leaves start turning I start feeling the itch to have warm feet. Warm feet for me is a pair of comfy hand-knit socks. So out come the needles, I prefer double points although I have certainly used the magic loop method, and on goes the TV and any night of the week you will find me watching the new crop of shows while socks come flying off the needles. This fall I have been knitting to: Sean Saves the World; The Crazy Ones; Mom; Game of Thrones (not technically a new show this fall but a new to me show and has there ever been a better written, and acted, character than Tyrion Lannister?); The Blacklist, and Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. I have to say that I knit a lot slower during Game of Thrones. And it may be because my little heart goes pitty-pat whenever Peter Dinklage is on-screen. What a great actor! If anyone was going to make me end my fake marriage to George Clooney it would be Peter Dinklage.

Today the Yarn Harlot had the audacity to mention these verboten words “about 27 days to knit”. I don’t know what she was thinking because if anything is going to put a jinx on Christmas knitting it is the acknowledgement that there are only a finite number of days left to accomplish it in. I have approximately ten pairs of socks to knit. On average if I forgo eating and insert a caffeine drip, I can churn out a pair of socks in a little over two days. Maybe two days if I wear Depends so I don’t have to take time out to go to the bathroom. Eww, I just reread that. That sounds so gross! Anyway you look at it there is no way I am going to get all those socks done and the handwarmers for my daughter and a sweater for my other daughter and a couple of hats for some people I know and I think I want to knit a shoulder wrap for my upcoming Christmas party. Don’t you roll your eyes at me. I know I still have to finish the sweater I started for last weeks Christmas party. And I also know I have twenty days to find a pattern, find the yarn, find the needles, and find the time to sit down and knit a lace shawl. *sigh*

Why do I think I can knit faster than I actually can? Knitters optimism? Pride? Denial? Have I overdosed on lanolin causing me to have delusions of grandeur? I really need a time turner like Hermione had in Harry Potter. Or maybe if I could find a radioactive sheep and if it bit me I would gain super knitting powers. Or would that just make me sprout glow-in-the-dark wool from the top of my head?

Day 23 – Socks, socks and more socks

I’m knitting a pair of socks. Nothing fancy just knit 3, purl 2 rib with a gusset heel. I’m using my go-to yarn for everyday socks, Patons Kroy Socks, this one in their Burnished Sierra Stripes. This is a very Halloweenish colourway and I started these before Halloween as a gift for my daughter but I put them aside when I decided I needed to knit something for my staff’s Christmas party. That sweater is still in progress. Now there is no pressing need, I’ve turned my focus elsewhere and socks are always needed.

I like Patons Kroy for socks because this yarn wears like iron and I am pretty hard on socks. So is my daughter. She needs warm socks when she walks the dog and these are her favourites as well. She says they are “cozy”. They certainly start off feeling scratchy but once washed they soften considerably. I like to knit socks with a slightly smaller than recommended gauge simply because they turn out so warm that I find I can’t wear them with slippers or I get too hot. And my feet are almost always cold so warm socks are a blessing.

If I want something a little softer or if I’m knitting for someone else then I raid my stash of yarn from Meadowview Alpaca Farm. I love their sock yarn, a blend of alpaca/nylon/merino that is soft and comfortable and warm. After a wash it is even softer and warmer. I get most of this yarn from the Royal Winter Fair that way I know what I’m getting although now that I have had some experience with them I won’t hesitate to order some yarn from them on-line. It’s just finding the money at the moment.

I was going to go to the fair this year with the intent of buying enough of their double-knit, bulky, and worsted yarns to make some gifts. What I like about their yarn is that they name their sources. That is exactly what it says, when you buy the yarn they include the name of the alpaca it came from. I like this idea because if you buy a skein from one alpaca’s fleece and you really like it, you can watch for more and order it. So you could have a whole wardrobe made from the fleeces of one alpaca. How cool is that?

Meadowview Alpaca Farm also sells bedding made from their alpaca fleece. One of these days, I swear I’m going to own one of their alpaca duvets. Can you imagine how warm that would be? I would never want to get out of bed on a cold winter morning. I’m afraid I would become known as the crazy duvet lady because I would wrap myself in it and never take it off. I hate being cold and I drool over the thought of owning something that warm. I have a down duvet but there is something about the thought of wrapping myself in alpaca that gives me the warm, fuzzies.

They also sell kits to make slippers lined with alpaca roving. My toes curl at the thought and not in a bad way. And then you can buy premade socks, hats, scarves, mittens, toys…all from alpaca. And for spinners and quilters they have roving, felt sheets, and quilt batts. And the best thing of all is that for those of us who live in Ontario it’s supporting a home-grown business.

But back to my socks. A funny thing about them. When I was digging around my bag looking for my other ball of yarn so I could finish the second sock, I found another half-finished sock. A sock I don’t even remember casting on. How sad is that? I have no idea how long this poor thing has been languishing in the bottom of my project bag while I crammed all kinds of other projects on top of it. It must have been feeling pretty rejected. And it’s a very pretty sock at that. It’s knit in Kroy FX in the clay colourway and the pattern seems to be just a box stitch so I don’t know why I didn’t finish it. I think maybe I was trying to decide how I wanted to do the heel. That’s probably the reason. At least I’m going with that. I would hate to think I abandoned the poor thing because I found something more interesting to knit.

I do have a problem with socks, though. I tend to knit simple designs even though I would love some of the more complicated ones like Monkey, Kalajoki, or Owlie, for example but it requires too much math to adjust the pattern for my tiny feet. The problem I have is that most socks ask you to cast on too many stitches for me. I like a snug sock and so most of the time I use between 48-56 stitches, depending on needles, yarn and pattern. So for patterns based on a larger number of stitches I have to use real math to figure it out. I can’t be bothered when they are socks and I can just reach for my stitch pattern directory and find something I like that will fit in the limited amount of stitches I have. I mean, really, if I couldn’t whip up a pair of socks after all this time knitting then someone needs to take my needles away from me.

Anyway, back to my Halloween socks which are now Christmas socks and may end up as Valentine socks if I don’t get busy. I am on my second sock and I broke one of my cardinal rules, write down all modifications as you do them so you don’t forget. I can only assume I did not intend to put this sock down at any point so that the mods would be kept fresh in my mind and it wouldn’t matter. That is the only reason why, when I look through my notepad, I can find no mention of the mods I made.

I like the pattern to continue up the back of the heel and around the instep, which worked fine on the first sock but for some strange reason I am having difficulty figuring out just how I did that. It should be simple enough, keeping in pattern I increased at each end of the instep stitches every other round to shape for the gusset. For some unknown reason that I’m not quite sure I understand when I do this I screw it up. Every single time. Perhaps because it’s not complicated I’m over thinking it or perhaps I’m just tired but my poor old brain is just not firing on all cylinders on this one. But I’ll work it out, I’m sure. After all there are still 5 more weeks before Christmas. Lots of time.