Possessed to Knit

Knotty or Knice Sock

I have completed the first Knotty or Knice sock for my mother.  I knitted it top-down starting with 72 sts on size 2.25 mm Knit Picks 32" circular needles.  The clover style pattern is visible with this Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in the Tickled Pink colorway.  I worked three pattern repeats (15 rows each) and decreased 4 sts across the heel stitches on the 15th row.  I worked 1 pattern repeat on the instep while working stockinette stitch on the sole.  I then knitted a short-row heel over 34 sts down to 12 sts.  I followed the patterns recommended method of wrapping the sts, whereas I usually wrap the needle.  This heel looks a little looser to me along the short-row edge.  I continued with 5 pattern repeats and changed to a 2.00 mm Knit Picks 32" circular needle for the toe.  I knitted two round plain before starting my regular toe decreases and ended with grafting 16 sts together.

I look forward to casting on for the second sock soon.  I will be taking Spinning and Knitting Estonian Lace for the next few days and hope to work on the second sock during our down time. 

Never on Sunday Sheep 2 Shoe Kit

I've started spinning my Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sheep 2 Shoe kit in the Never on Sunday colorway.  Tina recommends splitting the roving into thirds lengthwise before spinning.  I found this daunting when I spun my Lapis Sheep 2 Shoe kit.  I chose instead to split it crosswise into 4 matching sections, and I ended up with a good bit barberpole yarn.  I thought I would split the roving lengthwise this time.  I split it in half and then split the first half into half.  I will split the send half into half sometime later.  This is over 8 ounces of roving so it is a lot to split.  I have almost completed my first bobbin as shown here in my photo.  I am spinning the singles on my Wyatt wheel at the 1:12 ratio.

Caitlin & Colin celebrated their first birthday on Sunday.  Here they are playing with one of their new toys.  Caitlin really likes the plastic handle on it, at least Colin is enjoying the rope part.  They like to tug on ropes and run next to each other and I thought this would be the perfect gift for them.

Matinee Coat Completed

I have completed the Debbie Bliss Matinee Coat for our neighbors' new baby, Kara.  I used 3.5 mm needles for the body and 3.00 mm needles for the edging, which turned out to be a little smaller than the gauge.  I thought about knitting it all in one piece with the fronts and back totally over 200 sts for this 6 to 9 month size.  I did not want all the yarn ends at the front so I knit it in pieces (with a 1 st garter st selvedge) and hid all the ends in the seams.  I knitted the sleeves at the same time and then grafted them into the armholes.  I used a 2 stitch i-cord for the ribbon.  If I were to knit this again, I would knit it all in one piece and knit the sleeves from the top down in the round. 

I did not have enough yarn to complete the edging and found two generous Ravelry members who also had this yarn in their stash.  LollyNo2 had 3 balls of this Baby Cashmerino and PennyB had a partial ball in the same dye lot.  I just had PennyB send me hers and was grateful to have LollyNo2 as a back up.  Thank you to both of them for their help and now I have two new Ravelry friends.

Spinning Wheel Plate & Radish Yarn

Look at the spinning wheel plate my friend, Lawrence, sent to me.  I see it is a flax wheel as the distaff is dressed with prepared flax so it can be spun and woven into linen.  The back of it says "Colonial Homestead by Royal circa 1750".  Lawrence says it is transfer-ware, and he knows much more about ceramics than I do.  It is beautiful and will inspire me as I spin.  I finished spindle spinning and plying the rest of my Art Club Radish batt.  I have over 4 oz of 16 to 20 wpi singles.  I am considering making the Hydrangea scarf with this incredibly soft blend of superwash blue-faced leicester, merino and alpaca.  Thank you to Lawrence for the darling plate.

Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy Sock

Here is my current travel sock project.  It is Meilenweit Cotton Fantasy (#803) with 72 sts on size 0 (2.00 mm) Addi Bamboo dpns.  I started these socks last summer with 76 sts on size 00 (1.75 mm) Addi Turbo lace needles which turned out to be too small.  I started this sock last summer, but when the weather started getting cooler, I went back to knitting wool blend socks.  Summer is just around the corner so it is time for me to get back to my cotton blend socks.  The gauge for this sock is 9.5 sts and 12.5 rows to the inch.  The colors remind me of my recently spun Art Club Radish yarn and make for a very interesting sock. 

Suri-Huacaya Alpaca Roving

My amazing friend, Kate, sent me this very generous sample of her recent Suri-Huacaya roving purchase.  I have spun a little Suri alpaca fiber and a good bit of Huacaya alpaca fiber (as Kate and her husband raised Huacaya alpacas).  This combination of the two fibers is silky-soft and wonderful to spin.  The staple length is about 5 inches long and the color deepens into a richer brown upon spinning.  This 2-ply sample is 16 to 20 wpi.  I think it will make a fantastic shawl with its ability to take a good amount of twist and its slight halo.  I plan to sit down at my wheel and make a 2-ply sample at the 1:12 ratio.  I will then choose the 1:8 or the 1:16 ratio to try next and compare the two knitted samples like a good spinner.  Thank you to Kate for this delightful fiber!

Matinee Coat

I've started the Matinee Coat from Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino book.  It is for our neighbors' new baby, Kara.  I'm making the 6 month to 9 month size, so I have a little while to complete it.  I've knitted with this yarn before and like it a lot as it is very soft.  I'm using size 3.50 mm Addi Turbo circular needles.  I probably could have gone up to a 3.75 mm needle as the gauge is coming out slightly small.  I have the back completed, pictured to the left, and I have started the sleeves.  I'm knitting them simultaneously which is going very smoothly for me, and this way they will both turn out to be exactly the same.

Knotty or Knice Socks

I have re-started the Tickled Pinks socks for my mother.  They will be reborn as a pair of Knotty or Knice Socks from the Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits.  The other sock was a bit puffy and I switched to a smaller circular needle for the sole so it wouldn't be too big.  It was a challenge to use dpns on the instep and then the circular needle on the sole.  I remembered I had this Knotty or Knice pattern and that I had wanted to knit it.  It looks much better than the first sock.  I am using a size 2.25 mm Knit Picks 32" circular needle and Opal's specially designed sock markers to separate the cable pattern repeats.  Most of the knit stitches are twisted except for the ribbing k2s between the cable knots.  I had trouble keeping it all straight with this variegated yarn and adding markers helped tremendously.  The pattern is written toe-up with the option of going top-down, which what I chose to do. 

For a delightfully entertaining sock discussion, be sure to read this blog from my friend, Kate.  I am amazed that I have some of the exact same sock yarn as she does in my stash, specifically the Knit Picks Imagination Damsel and Unicorn sock yarns.

Art Club Radish Yarn

I've spun my first Art Club March Batt into a 2-ply yarn.  This skein weighs 2.2 oz at 16 to 20 wpi and approximately 140 yards.  I used my Magpie Midwhorl spindle and my Cascade St. Helen spindles for the singles and my Golding Sunbeam spindle for plying them together.  Nikol's Radish colorway batt consists of superwash blue-faced leicester, merino and alpcaca fibers.  It is very soft and was a lot of fun to spin.  I wanted to make it more of a lace weight yarn, but it did not work out that way.  I have one more batt to spin up and then I need to decide what to do with 300 yards of this 2-ply yarn.  I think I will know the right project for it when I see it.