Possessed to Knit

Tofutsie Mini Socks

The gauge requirements for Sock Wars III were released on Saturday.  I worked the weekend (so I would not have to work on MSWF weekend) and appreciated the gentle reminders from Maria and Al that the gauge had come out on April 26th.  At any rate, the gauge is 8 sts per inch, not a big surprise, but a challenge for me to achieve.  I typically do not knit sock gauges, or as Rita Buchanan would say, I knit size a 8 1/2 sock as my gauge square.  As I searched for my size 3.0 mm Knit Picks 32 inch circular needles, I came across this pattern for a Mini-sock.  I would use it when I taught sock knitting classes, especially to show the grafting technique.  I knitted the sock on the left with my 2.5 mm Knit Picks circulars and the sock on the right I knitted with my 3.0 mm Addi Turbo needles as my Knit Picks needles did not turn up.  I'm surprised at the difference between these two socks with only 0.25 mm needle size diameter between them.  It appears that I have 8 sts per inch with my 3.0 mm needles.  I think a tighter gauge would make a better sock, but that would take longer and I will want to get these into the mail as quickly as possible.  Maria has high hopes for my winning this contest, though I did explain to her that a large part of it will be the luck of the draw. 

Cashmere & Silk Sampling

I've been carding my cashmere fiber into punis with my cotton cards and spinning the punis on my Cascade Shasta spindle.  I've also been spinning natural silk on my Natalie spindle given to me by Opal.  I made some plied samples.  The top sample is 2-ply cashmere at 20 wpi.  The bottom sample is 2 plies of cashmere with 1 ply of silk at 18 wpi.  The silk adds more body to the yarn and helps to smooth out the textury cashmere singles.  I will have to make some longer plied samples and knit them up before I can decide which yarn I like better.  I should also give one ply of each a try as 2-ply yarn is better for lace and I plan on knitting a lacy scarf with this handspun yarn.

Petite Lace Rib Sock

I've completed my first Petite Lace Rib sock with my Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm sock yarn.  This sock turned out to take a lot of knitting with size 0 needles.  I worked 84 rounds in the Petite Lace Rib pattern and then worked 16 rounds with half stockingette and half ribbing before the heel.  After the short row heel (worked over 35 sts down to 13 sts), I knitted 88 rounds to the toe.  This pattern has a three stitch repeat and I had to add an extra purl stitch to the instep to keep the pattern even.  This gave me 37 sts on the instep and 35 sts on the sole of the sock.  I had 9 sts to graft to 10 sts at the top of the toe and learned how to do this from knitting Lucy Neatby's Fiesta Feet socks.  One sock down and one to go!

Pearls on the Pulse

I completed this beaded cuff today.  I've had these size 8 beads threaded on some extra Jitterbug yarn as my first beaded cuff attempt did not work out.  I used 2.5 mm Brittany birch dpns and worked three repeats of the 14 row pattern over 25 sts.  I wish I had used 2.75 mm needles to make the cuff a little bigger, but it is close enough as it is.  A fourth repeat would have been too long.  The grafting was quite a challenge and seemed to take nearly as long as knitting the cuff.  This project was a pleasant diversion from sock knitting.  I realize I will only be knitting socks once Sock Wars III starts on May 9.

Tofutsies & More

Here is my order from The Knitting Zone that I received today.  I wanted to get some Tofutsies sock yarn for Sock Wars III as the gauge requirements will be released on April 26th.  The blue yarn is for my target and the red yarn is for me.  They also have a large selection of Hiya Hiya needles.  I was so pleased to find 40 inch circular needles in sizes 1.5 mm and 1.75 mm.  I'm planning a 76 st cotton socks on the 1.75 mm needles.  I've been looking at knitting two socks at the same time (on inside the other) and will need to go down in needle size to keep my gauge the same, too.  I have had trouble finding Cascade 220 Superwash in black.  One of the military personnel in Al's office will likely be going to Iraq in the next few months and I plan on knitting a helmet liner for him with the Cascade yarn.  They even have beads for the cuffs I love to knit so much.  I realize MSWF is just around the corner, but the Knitting Zone turned out to be one-stop shopping for me. 

Meet Phanuel

I adopted Phanuel from Schacht Fleece Farm last summer as a part of their very nice Adopt-A-Sheep program.  Mandy helped me to determine which of her ewes had the best kind of fleece for me.  I received Phanuel's processed fleece today.  I spindle spun up a sample and knit it up on size 8 needles.  Phanuel's fleece is incredibly soft!  There is a lot of it, too, enough for a cardigan spun from singles.  I'm hoping to spin a Lopi-style single yarn, slightly thicker than my spindle spun sample here.  I did not wash my yarn before I knit it up and realize that I have never worked with hand spun singles.  This swatch is about 4 sts and 6 rows per inch.  I'm planning on using the 1:8 ratio whorl on my Wyatt Norwegian.  I will wash and gently block each hank then start swatching for the Icelandic cardigan of my dreams. 

Petite Lace Rib Socks

Once I completed my latest Fair Isle sock, I felt like taking a little break and decided to cast on for these Petite Lace Rib socks.  This is the last of my MSWF 2007 sock yarn purchases.  It is 500 yards (4 oz) of hand-dyed sock yarn from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm.  I chose the pattern from "The Fun Sock Book" by Koigu Wool Designs.  I also purchased this at a previous MSWF and had only used the basic sock design out of it.  The resulting socks quickly wore out in the heel and I have since learned a few things about sock knitting.  I had knit the foot too short which put a lot of stress on the heel.  I also believe the needle size they recommend (size 3.0 mm) is too large for Koigu weight yarn.  I had used 2.5 mm needles for my first pair of Koigu socks.  At any rate, I am using size 2.0 mm (0) Knit Picks 32 inch needles and 72 sts for this pattern.  The pattern uses the larger needles and 63 sts.  The lacy rib pattern is stretchy and works well with this rainbow-dyed sock yarn.

Head over Heels Sock Yarn

I've finished spinning and plying my Head over Heels Sock Yarn.  I spun two bobbins of wool and two bobbins of silk.  I plied all of them together to make a 4-ply yarn.  I used my Lendrum plying head and two lazy kates for the plying.  This skein weighs a little over 7 ounces and is 16 to 18 wpi.  I have not determined the total yardage, but I could get a pair of socks and gloves out of this skein.  I have been looking through Sensational Socks and More Sensational Socks for pattern ideas.  This project was a lot of fun to spin and I look forward to seeing how this yarn knits up. 

Kate has written a blog about her alpaca sock yarn experiment and I found it to be riveting.  It makes me want to spin my own alpaca socks to see if I get the same results as she did. 

Fair Isle Socks Progress

My Fair Isle sock is coming along nicely.  I noticed that the leg is a bit wider than the foot.  I'm hoping a good blocking will even it out, though both yarns are superwash.  My gauge is about 9 sts and 9.5 round per inch on my 2.25 mm Lantern Moon Sox Stix.  I purchased this WIP sock needle tube and found it to be a little disappointing.  It slides a bit and I find I end up crushing my sock when it closes too much.  They come in a set of 2 for $9, a bit pricey for two cardboard tubes.  This sock could be too thick for the tube as it takes me a little while to put it all together.  It does protect the needles and keep them from getting broken in my tote bag.  I bring my Color Bucket into the grocery store with me.  On more than one occasion, I was concerned that my inadvertently placed groceries might have broken a needle.  I guess I should be using this tube for my current travel project as I would not be taking this more complicated project with me to knit while I stand in line. 

Sockotta Fair Isle Sock Yarn

I started a new pair of travel knitting socks.  This is Plymouth Sockotta sock yarn in their Fair Isle series.  I could not find a picture of it knitted up online so I could decide where I wanted to start my sock.  At least my picture will be a source for other Sockotta Fair Isle knitters.  I am using 72 sts on my Addi Bamboo size 0 dpns.  I made this pair of socks with 72 sts on my Knit Picks 2.25 mm 32" circular needles. I did get to wear them once and I found them to be a little too big.  I will still wear them as it is finally warming up around here, but I have returned to my size 0 dpns for my cotton blend socks.