Socks? July 10, 2008

My in-laws took off yesterday, so life is back to “normal” for the time being.  We had a lot of fun and I did get a lot of knitting done.  I worked on two different socks- one that is technically tricky and one that was very simple (for walking around or knitting in the car.)  While my in-laws don’t quite understand my obsession with the craft, they’re very tolerant of it.  I got the leg of the challenging sock completed and finished the heel and gusset of the simpler one. Of course, with all this wonderful knitting time and productivity, something had to go wrong.

I’ve been struck down by the Gauge Demon.  You know the one, big pointy horns, red eyes, and covered in discarded swatches.  I gauged each stitch pattern carefully, measured, multiplied, and then cast on a number of stitches that should work (and has worked in the past.)  But then the Demon saw that I had not tried on the socks after the ribbing section or even halfway down the leg.  And he decided that the sock, that should by all reasonable logic fit perfectly, would suddenly be too small.  Not quite too small to put on… just circulation-stopping small.

I hate that guy.

This is my easier sock.  Louet Gems Pearl in Caribou (I’m trying to use up some Gems from another project that used 8 skeins of various colors… and didn’t really work out) and the lovely Pagewood Farm Denali in Navajo.  This sock went with me everywhere.  See how much work I got done before the Gauge Demon struck? ? *sigh* I messed up the heel all by myself, though. I might reknit this one, I really liked how fast it worked up, but it might be bumped for another project.

My technical sock.  I love this sock. I’ve always wanted to knit one of those beautiful Austrian twisted stitch socks, especially as my grandmother is from Vienna.  I’ve tried a few times before, but I don’t think I ever had the right yarn.  Or I was too impatient.    The sock above is knitted with my other skein from Pagewood Farm.  I love the yarn and the color, but the lighter bits are a little distracting in the pattern.  So the Gauge Demon has actually given me a good excuse to switch yarns.  I’m reknitting the sock (correctly sized this time, take that demon!) in some Knit Picks Essential Mermaid.  The revised sock is knitting up pretty fast!

Speaking of Knit Picks, I bought a nice big box of yarn from them to try out some of their new stuff/colors.  I love Knit Picks.  Essential feels so great on my feet, soft and springy but easy to knit with.  Wool of the Andes is great for felting and comes in so many colors! Especially with the high gas and food prices, the idea of getting two skeins of sock yarn for under $7 is really attractive.  Plus, free shipping is always a nice perk.  I enjoy going to my LYS and splurging on special or beautiful yarns (like the Denali), but a large chunk of my stash is from Knit Picks.  Really, this isn’t an ad for Knit Picks.  I just love their yarn and felt like I needed to justify my Knit Picks stash, lol.

Check out that new superwash/alpaca/nylon sock yarn there in the upper left.  I’m excited to knit that up! (Can you tell I like blues?)

Lakeside Gloves July 6, 2008

I cannot get a good picture of these mitts. It’s impossible. I think I’ll blame it on the drab weather. (Or the fact that my in-laws are here, therefore giving me less time to spend fiddling in my lightbox.)

Anyway, I wanted something light and small to wear while typing and going to movies (this summer has a strangely large number of movies that we want to see.) I wanted them to be quick and simple to knit too. These meet just about all my criteria, but I wish I had made them just a smidge longer at the end. The pattern and color combination were inspired by Rattlesnake Lake, where we like to kayak and hike (this isn’t my picture.)

There aren’t actually any rattlesnakes at Rattlesnake Lake, but the wind blowing through the trees makes a very similar sound to a rattlesnake and the original explorers thought there were snakes here. The water is a beautiful teal color when it’s sunny and there’s a nice rocky/sandy beach at the shore.

The Lakeside Mitts start with a 1×1 twisted rib, then have a fun and not-too-complicated lace pattern. The lace pattern is only on the back of the hand, so the palm is smooth and comfortable. The thumb gusset is made with yarn overs and then bound off without having to join more yarn. Except for the contrasting color cuff, the gloves are made in one piece. The right glove is made by knitting from the side of the hand towards the thumb over the back of the hand. The left glove is made the opposite, by starting at the side of the hand, knitting across the palm, then over the back. The cuff instructions are the same for both.

Lakeside Mitts

• Finished Size: Women’s medium
• Needles: 2 Size 1 (2.25mm) circulars or Size 1 DPNs
• Yarn: MC- Pagewood Farms Denali, Navajo; CC- Louet Gems Pearl, Champagne
• Extras: Stitch markers, tapestry needle
• Gauge: 8 sts x 11 rows= 1 row in stockinette

Stitch Guide

Twisted Rib: *K1tbl, p1* until the end of the round.

M1: Insert right needle into the strand running between the stitches from front to back and place on left needle. Knit into the back loop. 1 stitch increased. Pictures here.

Larkspur Lace:

(worked over 29 sts)

Row 1: *K2, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k3, k2tog, yo,* 3 times, k2

Row 2 and all even rounds: Knit

Row 3: *K2, yo, k1, sl1, k1, psso, k1, k2tog, k1, yo,* 3 times, k2

Row 5: *K3, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, sl1, k1, psso, k1,* 3 times, k2

Row 7: *k2tog, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, sl1, k1, psso,* 3 times, k2

Row 8: Knit.

Repeat Rows 1-8.

Cuff for Right and Left Mitt

CO 58 sts in CC. (29 sts on each needle, if using 2 circs.)

Work Twisted Rib for about 3/4″ or as long as desired.

Hand and Thumb Increases, Right Mitt

Round 1: Join MC and work the first row of Larkspur Lace over the first 29 sts, place one stitch marker, then p1, place second marker, m1, knit to 1 stitch before the end of the round, m1, p1. 2 stitches increased. 60 sts.

Round 2 and all Even rounds: Work stitches as presented (knit the knits and purl the purls.) Counts as even rows for Larkspur Lace.

Round 3: Work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to first marker, p1, k 30, p1.

Round 5: Work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to first marker, slip marker, YO, p1, YO, slip second marker, k 30, p1. 2 sts increased. 62 sts.

Round 7: Work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to first marker, slip marker, YO, knit to the purl stitch, p1, knit to second marker, YO, slip marker, k30, p1. 2 sts increased. 64 sts.

Alternate Round 7 and an Even Round until there are 11 YO increases on each side.

Rib Round: Work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to first marker, slip marker, *k1tbl, p1* to last stitch before marker, k1tbl, slip marker, k30, p1.

Alternate an Even Round, then Rib Round twice more (total of 3 Rib Rounds, 5 rounds in all.)

Bind Off Round: Work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to first marker, slip marker, BO all stitches between markers, remove second marker, BO 1 more stitch, k30, p1. 59 sts.

Work an Even Round, but CO 1 stitch after the marker. (Second marker can be removed now.) 1 stitch increased. 60 sts.

Alternate Round 3 and an Even Round until the gloves are about 1/2″ shorter than desired length.

Work Twisted Rib for 1/2″ or longer.

BO loosely and weave in ends.

Hand and Thumb Increases, Left Mitt

Round 1: Join MC and p1, m1, knit 27 sts, m1, place marker, p1, place second marker, work the first row of Larkspur Lace over the last 29 sts. 2 stitches increased. 60 sts.

Round 2 and all Even rounds: Work stitches as presented (knit the knits and purl the purls.) Counts as even rows for Larkspur Lace.

Round 3: P1, k 30, p1, work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to end of round.

Round 5: P1, k30, slip marker, YO, p1, YO, slip second marker, work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to end of round. 2 sts increased. 62 sts.

Round 7: P1, k30, slip marker, YO, knit to the purl stitch, p1, knit to second marker, YO, slip second marker, work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to end of round. 2 sts increased. 64 sts.

Alternate Round 7 and an Even Round until there are 11 YO increases on each side.

Rib Round: P1, k30, slip marker, *k1tbl, p1* to last stitch before marker, k1tbl, slip marker, work next odd row of Larkspur Lace to end of round.

Alternate an Even Round, then Rib Round twice more (total of 3 Rib Rounds, 5 rounds in all.)

Bind Off Round: P1, k30, BO all stitches between markers, remove second marker, BO 1 more stitch, work next odd row of Larkspur Lace end of round. 1 stitch decreased. 59 sts.

Work an Even Round, but CO 1 stitch before the marker. (First marker can be removed now.) 1 stitch increased. 60 sts.

Alternate Round 3 and an Even Round until the gloves are about 1/2″ shorter than desired length.

Work Twisted Rib for at least 1/2″.

BO loosely, weave in ends and enjoy your new mitts!

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested. But they are free. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Rambling Rivers July 2, 2008

Last weekend was my birthday. It was a gorgeous weekend and we went kayaking down a section of river we hadn’t been down before. Everything was going great- this section has a lot of Class 2 rapids instead of our normal route which is mostly lazy with a few interesting bits. Personally, I think some parts of this section were Class 3. Anyway, long story short, I fell out of my kayak during some rapids. Got banged up a bit while scrambling for shore (that river moves fast when you’re on foot!) Of course, the Snoqualmie doesn’t always have a shore; often times it’s just a mass of brambles and thorns growing from a wall of dirt. The bruises are pretty impressive.

So, I’m one year older and have spent the last two days scrubbing down every square inch of my house. My father-in-law is allergic to cats, and we have two, but if we keep a room completely cat-free all year round. So if I clean up every shred of cat hair and dust everything, he can stay here with little to no trouble. For him. It’s trouble for me, lol! I usually don’t mind, but scrubbing the floor on river-bruised knees is less fun than it could be.  They’re here now, though, so let the fun begin! (And, ironically, more knitting time than I had before they arrived.  I’ve got two pairs of socks planned…. but honestly, no matter how much knitting time I have, I’m not going to finish even one sock, am I?  Not the way I frog!)

Speaking of frogging, last Christmas at my in-laws, I was working on a hat.  I didn’t really expect my radical hat design to work, but I kept chugging along.  By the time the plane landed, I had ripped out the just the cast on 4 times!  By Christmas Eve, I had half a hat done. Then I decided that it didn’t match what was in my head and frogged the whole darn thing (it had 4 colors, so it was quite the thing to frog.)  Partly, I had a knitting project that was going to start on Christmas Day for Lowell and I didn’t want a half-finished hat sitting around.  Well, my mother-in-law was shocked.  She told her mother, “She was almost done with a hat… and then… she tore it all out!”  (Lowell’s side of the family doesn’t craft much.)  I frog a lot.  I should get some sort of frogging trophy.  “Best in Frogging” or “the Froggiest” maybe.

I did manage to finish my project from my last post, or at least half of it.

Cute, summery mitts for those times when it gets chilly in the evening or for wearing at the movies in the freezing AC or typing at the computer. (That’s where I’ll be wearing them!)  The Lakeside Mitts start with a twisted ribbing, have a pretty but fairly simple lace pattern on the top but a smooth palm for easy wearing.  They’ve got a thumb gusset made with YOs and the thumb stitches are not held to work later, so the glove is all one piece.  They use Pagewood Denali and Louet Gems Pearl.  So soft, so very soft.  The pattern will be coming soon!