Sock Progress!

There has been sock progress.
First off, I cast on Fawkes, which I think of as my Momma Monkey Memorial Socks. She was a very talented designer, and I think she would have loved the bright orange yarn I've picked for this project. Cast on only a few days ago, I'm already done with the cuff -- unless I add another pattern repeat. But I'm afraid I'll run out of yarn if I do that.


And now, a picture of the formerly frustrating toe-up heel! Thanks so much for all the help. Once the concept behind the toe-up heel clicked, I figured out that I was supposed to sl1, k 14 till the marker -- because the next line mentioned 15 stitches on each DPN. Which worked beautifully with the k2tog at the end of the previous row, because it reduced my stitches from 16 to 15. All is well, and the sock fits beautifully.


By the way, the pattern is available for free here!
Other than the tiny miscount, it's very well written and makes for a great first toe-up sock knitting experience.

Sock Knitting Help? Please?

My sock knitting has ground to a halt. Sometimes, pattern instructions can bring you up short and make you wonder if you've been doing something wrong your entire knitterly career. This just happened to me.

I'm knitting the heel of my first ever toe-up sock. The instructions tell me to sl1, k11, then pick up and knit 10 stitches along the edge of the flap, knitting the last 2 stitches together. Except... for me, pick up and knit has never meant "pick up the slipped stitch with the left needle, pull yarn through, then knit the pulled-through stitch" -- it's always been "pick up slipped stitch with your right needle, pull through a bit of yarn, done."
Except, according to my method, you can't really knit anything together. Am I wrong? Have I been doing this wrong my entire knitting life?

And, as if this weren't confusing enough, another question: If I have 6 stitches on one half of the heel, then pick up 10, but knit the last 2 together... That's 15 stitches, right? Because the pattern wants me to sl 1, then knit 15 stitches to center of heel marker. Uh, that's 16. Which I would have if I hadn't tried to k2tog those pick-up-and-knit stitches mentioned above. Unggggh. Am I being dense? Help!

In other news, I have also cast on for a pair of Fawkes socks. I'm using that gorgeous orange yarn I showed you a little while ago, and I'll show you a picture of my progress as soon as I've calmed down enough to type the word "sock" without my usually lower-than-normal blood pressure going through the roof.

FO Friday -- Knitting Content! (picture heavy)

Yes, knitting content! Remember knitting? Believe it or not, I still do it.
And today, I present to you the finished husband socks! For some reason, my crummy camera software doesn't give me an option to rotate images, so here is a sideways picture of the socks. I didn't use flash to bring out the pattern more... click to make bigger.


A closeup of the pattern. I find it very elegant and masculine, just enough to add interest, not enough to overwhelm.


The socks on Mr. Batty's feet. He put them on so I could take a picture of the finished object being worn... and he's still wearing them. I guess he likes them!


A cat head-free closeup of socks being worn. Do you know how hard it was to not have that cat head in this picture? First a black one, then a gray-and-white one? With eyes wide open, though every time I want to take a cat picture on purpose, they squint and scowl?
But I digress. Socks.


Details:
Pattern: Classic Socks from The Knitting Manu(ual) -- If you have a guy in your life and would like to knit him something, I highly recommend this book! The models look like real-life guys, and the designs look like clothes real-life guys would wear. And they don't all have intricate cabling all over everything!
Size: US shoe size 10.5/European 45/46; 72 stitches cast on
Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in a dark navy (no idea where that ball band went...), a bit less than 2 skeins
Needles Us 0 (Not as bad as it sounds. The yarn is pretty thick, and my gauge was bigger than usual.
Modifications: I knit the heel flap for the smaller size (length-wise, not width-wise). Other than that, Everything is done according to pattern. This has got to be a first... no serious mods!

And now, because you know I was having trouble with my first ever toe-up sock, I would like to proudly show that it finally "clicked." The yarn is Panda Cotton in Roses (to me, it looks more like watermelon or strawberry swirl), and the pattern is from the spring issue of Simply Knitting.


See? About 1.5" from my ankle. And then, I get to figure out the heel.


I hope I don't have to start the heel as many times as I had to start this sock. Fourth time's the charm.

Speaking of fourth... Happy 4th of July to all my US readers!

There, that segue wasn't at all heavy handed. Not at all. : )

Toe Up Trouble

I just frogged my first toe up sock for the third time. Each time because I read the pattern wrong! There's a huge difference between k1, m1, k1 to end of needle and k1, m1, k to end of needle. Urgh.

Stay tuned for actual progress pictures! I'm casting on tonight, and this time, I'm getting it right, dammit!

Summer Slump

It's been weeks since my last post. I wish I could say that is because I am living this incredibly exciting life and we are having more fun than we know what to do with, but alas, our activities have been a bit more... well, boring. Here's a list:

• House hunting
• House cleaning
• Sorting out clothes I haven't worn in years and donating them to goodwill or selling them on eBay
• Getting stains out of the carpet all over the house (well, Mr. Batty did most of the work on that one)
• Setting up an appointment with a painter so we can get difficult-to-paint parts of the house fixed up. A fresh coat of paint will help us sell this place -- or at least that's what we're hoping.

So, as you can see, lots of work. Relatively little knitting, which is why I'm posting about the other thing librarians like to talk about: What I'm reading.
I always have several books going, but the one I'm reading right now is Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. It's a murder mystery in which a herd of sheep are trying to find out who murdered their shepherd. Yes, you heard me, a murder mystery with sheep detectives!
I'm not very far in yet, but I love the author's sense of humor. Very tongue in cheek yet utterly charming. And not to mention... sheep.
I guess one could say it's somewhat knitting related.
But, knitting or no, how can one not like a book that starts with a list of characters appropriately captioned Dramatis Oves?

Caturday

Happy early Caturday! Technically, it's Friday, but I wanted to share pictures of my cats in their favorite flop spots.

Morgana loves the printer. Mr. Batty and I have a suspicion that she was some kind of computer engineering type in a former life.


Merlin flops on the upper part of the computer desk. He is more of a taking things apart kitty, and we're guessing former mechanical engineer.


That's it in cat-related news. I got back from my trip to New Jersey and have taken today off for some rest and sanity-restoration. I know I've been really, really bad about reading people's blogs and intend to get caught up over the weekend. In the meantime...
Flopping, cuddling, cooking, and some sweater surgery. I hope the procedure goes well and the patient doesn't have to be frogged!

Block Party

Berroco Ultra Alpaca grows. I have heard knitters comment on it, I have read posts about the amazing expandability of this yarn, and still I ignored the advice. Did I wash my swatch? No, of course not! Why not spend hours knitting a sweater with a 50" bust, only to wash it and experience the growing miracle yarn myself?

Here it is.


There is a little extra fabric -- about 1" more in length, and possibly 1/2-1" in width. But the sleeves... instead of 23", they're a good... 24, maybe 25" long, and the top of each sleeve is 23" wide instead of 21"...
Not too bad, and when it gets dry, it'll probably pull back together a little bit. Still, I've learned my lesson: wash your swatch. It's worth it. I know swatches lie, but you'll learn valuable things about your yarn.

Also a long time coming was the blocking of Tangerine Twist. You may remember my first seaming attempt, which failed because the sleeves didn't quite fit into their holes and I had to rip them back out. Now, I'm blocking the holes and hoping the sleeves will fit somehow. We'll see how things go.


I'm headed on another business trip next week, this time to New Jersey. I'm taking the train because it gives me extra time to work. It also gives me extra knitting time. I like extra knitting time.