Tdf Yarn #1: SCF Cairns Polwarth

Fiber: Southern Cross Fibre's Polwarth, in the Cairns colorway, 115 gr
Spun/plied: 12:1, 15:1, short forward draw (worsted)
Stats: 3-ply skein: 168 yds/3.5 oz, ~10 wpi. 2-ply skein: 49 yds/0.7 oz, ~14 wpi.

This was my maiden voyage spinning Polwarth, and I wasn't really sure what to do with it. Out came my handy dandy copy of "In Sheeps Clothing", which recommended worsted-style spinning. Okey dokey. I prepped the fiber Saturday night while the girls were having a bath: I split the entire length of top into three equal pieces by weight (40 gr, 40 gr, 39 gr). One length I left alone, one I split in half and one I split into fourths - hello fractal spinning!

Spinning on back porch while girls/dog played in sprinkler = win/win

This particular braid of fiber was also my maiden voyage into David's world, and was part of my prize pack from last year's 4 Oz Challenge event. I enjoyed every single moment of this spin, and it went by far too quickly! I managed the to finish the three bobbins by yesterday morning, and started plying last night. Finished off the plying today - I ended up with extra singles from the half-width and quarter-width bobbins, and put those into a 2-ply mini-skein.

3-ply

2-ply

I wasn't sure as to the provenance of the colorway name - living in the UK, all the cairns I've ever seen are mostly rock colored. Or covered in moss. But a quick Wikipedia glance reveals that Cairns is actually a city in Queensland that serves as a starting off point for going to the Great Barrier Reef (among other things). So the images of coral reefs and gorgeous blue and turquoise oceans that were floating through my brain while I spun this weren't far off. Well done David!

FO: Bright red socks for May

Pattern: Lanterne Rouge, by yours truly, part of a set of four Tour de France inspired anklets I designed a couple of years ago
Yarn: Cascade Fixation in really, really, really bright red, 1.8 skeins, approximately 180 yds total in the socks.
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm for the foot and heel, US 1.5/2.5 mm for the leg
Start/finish: 1 May - 28 May 2011
Comments/mods: As this is my own pattern, I certainly can't own up to it being anything less then stellar. However, I did modify a few things (and found a few boo boos in the pattern that I'll fix once RAB is over and done with). First off, I knit the medium size for stitch counts, but used the length measurement for the large size. I did this because I was worried that the lace pattern stretchiness might make the size large too loose around the foot.

I knit the pattern as written for the first sock, tried it on, and realized I needed some adjustments for the leg - it was impossible to get on! So I increased 4 stitches after finishing the heel flap (instead of decreasing) and switched to slightly larger needles. That did the trick.

Finally instead of making these short, ankle-length socks, I kept going until I was almost out of yarn. I really like how socks made from Fixation fit and feel, but I hate hate hate knitting with it. It hurts my hands like nothing else. Sadly, there are now several partial balls of Fixation in my stash (as well as a couple of whole ones!) that I may just have to get rid of.

So, I am absolutely thrilled that after five months of 2011, I have five finished pairs of socks to show for it. I'm a bit worried that June is going to throw a spanner into the works however, what with this silly 953 mile bike ride I seem to be doing. But I think I've come up with a possible solution: Aran weight socks.

To be fair, using aran weight yarn seems like a huge cop-out, on many different levels. But here's my rationale: for at least 10 days next month (and probably more like 12 or 13), I will be too tired from riding my (lovely new, see in first picture) bike up and down the myriad hills that make up this damned island, or too busy lying on a beach in Cornwall trying to recuperate (please don't let it rain!) to knit a single stitch. And I'm also going to design these socks myself instead of digging in to the pile of SISC bags waiting upstairs (deadline is early July). So that seems fair, doesn't it?

Maybe?

Bueller?

At least something got finished in April

With all the rampant starting of projects (and willful ignoring of projects in progress - I'm looking at you River Run), I was sure I would end the month without any finished objects under my belt. Thankfully last week's 9 hours (cumulative) on the train to and from Scotland and a trip from London to Somerset yesterday meant that last night I grafted toe #2 of my April socks while getting all weepy watching Wills and Kate on the BBC1 highlights show last night*.

Pattern: Nornir by Caoua Coffee, the round 2 pattern for Sock Madness 5
Yarn: Woolcraft Superwash Sock Yarn, bought for cheap cheap cheap at my semi-local haberdashery in December
Needles: US 1.5/2.5 mm double points
Start/finish: 1 April - 29 April 2011
Gauge: I am steadfastly ignoring gauge in my socks this year because I'm largely knitting them for other people. These are for someone in the States, and if they don't fit the intended recipient, I'm sure they will find a happy home.
Comments/mods: No mods from the pattern, although I knitted the large (72 stitch) size instead of the smaller version. I guess I originally thought they would be for me, but the slipped stitch/ribbing pattern coupled with a slipped stitch sole makes for a fairly inelastic fabric. They might actually fit me, but they'd probably be a bit tight, so I didn't even try. Off they go for a present instead.

The pattern was very nicely laid out and clearly explained. The stitch patterns used do eat up a fair bit of yarn, and take some time. At least it seemed like it took a long time. The leg is 82 rounds long, but the stitch pattern compresses quite a bit, so they aren't very high.

The bad news: I'm in Somerset, 3+ hours from London, I will be here until Monday, and I don't have the May socks with me. Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!

* I was not terribly in to the whole Royal Wedding TM coverage by any stretch of the information, but was interested to see all the hoopla. Imagine my surprise when I found it all to be actually really wonderful - they were so sweet**, and I thought the whole ridiculous affair was fairly restrained as these things go***. Maybe that's a function of the Veddy British coverage that I watched - what was it like in the States?

** Must give huuuuuge kudos to Mrs. Wales, as the media circus has been unbelievable and I think she's nutso for having agreed to this whole thing in the first place. As an English friend pointed out to me, "Well, she must really love him." Amen.

*** My childhood memories of Charles and Diana's wedding includes a train the length of Westminster Abbey. That might be a wee bit exaggerated, but not as much as I'd like to think.

FO: Ironman's Christmas Aran

Pattern: Heirloom Aran Pullover by Sue Mink
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Karisma Classic, colorway 16, 120 yds/50 gr, 14 skeins.
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm and US 6/4.0 mm circulars.
Gauge: 20 stitches/28 rows in stockinette
Start/finish: 20 October 2010 - 24 January 2011
Comments/modifications: this pdf is quite a minimalist pattern (all of 2 pages) with no charts, which (as a dedicated chart-ist) I found irritating. However, it is a pretty straightforward pattern. The other thing is that I used DK weight instead of worsted weight yarn, so I ended up using US 4/6 needles instead of US 7/9 - I still got gauge, so that was fine.

I started with the sleeves for a couple of reasons. 1) I hate knitting sleeves because they take forever, and 2) I wanted a chance to learn some of the cable patterns before launching into the front and back, particularly as I was changing the big middle cable panel. I think this is the first time I've knit both sleeves at the same time and, while it meant that all the increases and decreases matched up fine, it also took me a month. A solid month of knitting, to get two sleeves. Bah!

I swapped the odd, very in-and-out middle cable panel from the pattern with a much more uniform one from the Harmony Guides (the Lattice Cable, page 162 in cables & arnas if you're curious). Back and fronts went fairly smoothly. The yarn was really nice to work with - a bit stiff in the ball, but lovely and soft once knit up. And extremely economically priced, as these things go.

I blocked all the pieces before seaming and doing the neckband, but then had to reblock as the finished sweater was a bit too close fitting for Himself, and the sleeves were a bit short. Blocking took care of that but I may have to go back and redo the hip band - like a doofus I didn't check my notes on how much ribbing I did on the sleeves, and the waist ribbing is probably an inch too short. It was deemed acceptable by my husband, who has been waiting for this sweater for two Christmases now. But I can't guarantee that I won't be redoing the ribbing and trying to graft knit 1, purl 1 rib at some point in the future. I just couldn't face the prospect right now...Another thing that I would do over: I'd add some short rows at the back to get it to hang a little better. There's just not quite enough fabric coming up to the neck there.

So, Sweater #1 of 2011 is done. Thankfully sweater #2 is up to armholes on both body and sleeves, and might even be done before leaving for our ski trip in a week and a half. Which is good - Devil needs a new sweater!

FO: Smaug and Boo

I finished my first installment of my Self-Imposed Sock Club (SISC) on Monday, wove in the ends and blocked them. Ta da!

Pattern: Smaug by MoragOgg
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock, colorway "Vinca Minor", approximately 1.25 skeins
Needles: US 1.5/2.5 mm, magic loop
Start/finish: 1/1-24/1/11.
Comments/mods: This was a nice pattern - enough to keep me moving on it (aka not bored silly), but an easy stitch pattern to memorize. I made one modification on the toe - I continued the purl ridge down the sides of the toe, just because I liked the continuity.

I knit these just as written (60 stitch sock) and, as a result, they are waaaaay too small to fit me. I wanted a modelled shot, but Boo's arms were as close as I could get.

At least you can see the stitch pattern a bit better...these will go to some deserving soul with more petite feet.

In an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime convergence, I actually finished two pairs of socks this month.

These are for Boo, toe up, no pattern to speak of, short-row heel, an inch of 2x2 ribbing, find right spot in ball, repeat for matching stripes. I started these on our three-day trip to Copenhagen just after Christmas, and finished them a couple of weeks ago? I think? Anyway...Month 1, two pairs. It can only go downhill from here!