Please pass the crack pipe

So about a week ago I got a burst of inspiration for a pair of socks, and spent that evening trolling the internet searching for the perfect colorways for my vision. Lo and behold, I found the seemingly perfect handdyed yarns, at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, home of Socks that Rock.

Now, as some of you may know, I tend to approach things that have rabid fan followings with some degree of trepidation. Plus I seem to have some aversion to joining in with said rabid throng. So I have spent the last few years reading the odes to Socks that Rock in the blogosphere with a fair bit of salt. Not to mention dismay that people can get so worked up over some sock yarn. I read the stories of Blue Moon selling out of yarn at fiber festivals across the country, and people getting into fist fights over hanks of StR and thought "How could they be so silly?"

Well, I still think it's a pretty silly thing to get so het up over, but I have more sympathy now that my own shipment of StR has arrived. Two skeins for my secret design project, in Blue Moonstone and In the Navy (the perfect colorways I had imagined, just perfect), and one skein in Korppi, since I'd read/heard so much about the Raven colorways, just to try it out.

The colors of Korppi are more or less impossible to photograph, but it's black with beautiful green and purple overdyed sections. The other two skeins look pretty much like the above pictures. Now if you don't mind, I've got to wind some center pull balls and get swatching.

Boo can't decide which she likes best

Christmas FOs, Part II

It's long past time for me to post the second half of the Christmas FOs, although I don't have finished pictures for all of them.

1) Zeebee for my brother

Pattern: Zeebee by Schmeebot
Yarn: 2-ply handspun Colonial heather top from Woodland Woolworks, 4 oz, approximately110 yds, bulky weight (more details here)
Needles: ummm...10.5 maybe? No idea
Gauge: I know I had to measure this to get the right numbers for the pattern, but I have no idea what it was. Something like 3.5 sts/inch I think
Comments/mods: I love the construction of this hat, but the numbers I got from the pattern generator would have made a hat that came down past my earlobes (too long as far as I'm concerned). And I would have run out of yarn with one quarter of the hat left to knit. So instead of casting on 38 stitches, I cast on 30 and used the directions for the short rows that came with the 38 stitch version from the website. I was impressed that the handspun held up as well as it did, what with repeated frogging to get the right size. The yarn made for a squishy, warm hat that my brother loved.

2) Trekking stockinette socks

Now finished...

Pattern: my own, standard stockinette sock with one by one ribbing, short-row heel
Yarn: Trekking XXL, colorway 120(?), and Knit Picks Essential in ash for toes and heels
Needles: Knit Picks options dpns, size 1 (2.50 mm)
Gauge: about 32 stitches/28 rows per 4 inches
Comments: Size 11.5 socks are really big! But even so, I had enough left over to make a mini-pair of socks for Boo:

3) Felted clogs

Ready for the washer

Pattern: Fiber Trends felted clogs (Rav link) for the in-laws
Yarn: maroon pair: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes held doubled
blue/green/red pair: WotA held doubled
Needles: 10.5
Gauge: no idea
Comments/mods: I didn't make any modifications from the pattern, since this was the first time I've made them. Since, however, I have found a mod where you can knit the soles to eliminate almost all the sewing up - I'll definitely do this on the next pair I make. Pretty quick to knit, and the pattern is pretty straightforward, although it took me at least a pair to wrap my brain around it completely. These were gifted in the unfelted state, with one clog in each pair left to knit, but I finished them up before we left the in-laws, so technically they weren't late, right? Plus I could custom felt them to size, which was a good thing for the fit. But boy, had I forgotten how much Lamb's Pride sheds when felted! Talk about big red goobers in the washing machine...

Two other gifts have previously had their day in the sun, so I won't repeat their stats. That covers the Christmas knits I think. If I get more pictures of the gifted objects, I'll post them.

FO: Rainbow socks

Last Friday on the bus I managed to finish the Rainbow socks and weave in all the ends. Hooray for a pair of socks in ~3 weeks!

Pattern: Rainbow socks from Magknits
Yarn: Lang Jawoll Aktion, 420 m/100 g. This pair used up maybe 2/3s of the ball, so there's plenty left for some kid socks
Needles: Knit Picks Options dpns, size 1 (2.5 mm)
Comments/mods: for whatever reason, these socks seemed to go by really quickly. I really liked doing the short row sections - something different is always good. Instead of increasing after the ribbing, I cast on the number of stitches needed for the leg in the cuff - I was planning on working the long version (6 short row sections) and wanted to have a bit more give at the cuff since it was going to come up higher on the leg. I really like how the colorway stripes in these; it reminds me of a zebra.

This was my first time using yarn over short rows (I've always done wrap and turn in the past). I thought this technique worked really well for the body of the sock leg and foot, but I was a little dubious about the heel itself.

It does make a nice decorative line for the heel (and boy did I luck out with the color placement or what?), but it might be a bit holey for my taste. Unfortunately, I can't tell for sure because these babies are nowhere near big enough for my clodhoppers, as you can see:

Rainbow sock for someone with petite feet with my somewhat stretched-out Wyvern for scale

I also loved the toes on these - for someone who is scientifically inclined and way over-educated, it never occurred to me that you could do toe decreases in any other spacing then every row or every other row. For these toes, you decrease every fourth row, then every third row, then every other row, then every row, and they come out perfectly. Genius! I'll knit these again, and I've been thinking that some Noro sock yarn and a few more stitches around might make these babies actually fit me. But that's for another day...

These are destined for the gift pile (yeehaw!) and I'll have to figure out who in my not-so-long list of people worthy of knitted socks has feet the right size. And might like the colors. Finishing these so quickly has made me interested in trying to knit a pair of socks each month for the entire year. This would do wonders for the sock yarn stash, and if I switch off knitting a gift pair with a pair for me, I'll be well shod come next winter with woolly goodies. So that would make February a "me" sock month. I'm having chickens trying to decide whether to jump on the designing bandwagon one more time and work something up for summer Knitty (which only gives me a month!), or tackle Azure. I've got just the right yarn for both, and some ideas for the design, but what it will come down to is timing, and whether I can find a suitable lace pattern in the next few days and get started. Time to get swatching I suppose.

Was it good for you too?

Done. Finis. With two hours to spare. I've impressed myself this time.

Pattern: EZ's baby surplice sweater from Vogue Spring/Summer 2007 (Rav link)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Top (discontinued), 50/50 wool/cotton, (less then) two skeins, approximately 300 yds
Needles: US7
Comments/mods: the yarn I used is an aran or heavy worsted weight instead of the ~DK weight called for by the pattern. I rationalized my way around this issue by knitting the smaller of the two sizes in the pattern, and guessing that the intended recipient will still fit into in next winter (since he/she certainly won't be big enough for it this winter) (I hope). Finished chest measurement when laid flat is about 22 in, but it can be adjusted as needed by wrapping more or less.

Instead of buttons I put 3 stitch I-cords on the front corners of the jacket. Easier to do, plus I didn't have any suitable buttons floating around at work. I hope I made them long enough that they'll be usable as the babe gets bigger.

I used a lifted bar increase on the arms, and I like the subtle line it makes in the garter stitch. It is pretty unobtrusive in fact, and I like how it matches with the slight break seen along the front edging.

The yarn was slightly tough to work with, particularly under a time crunch - I'm not such a big fan of cotton, and this blend was particularly stiff feeling for only being 50% cotton. This is the same yarn I used for the now snoozing Basalt Tank, and I don't remember it being this tough to work with. Of course, I didn't knit for three days straight without stopping on the Basalt Tank either, so that might have something to do with it. I'm very pleased this is done, and I hope the mom-to-be likes it!

Just in case you've forgotten, I'm also working on my Rainbow Socks. Let me rephrase, on someone's Rainbow socks, because there is no way in hell these suckers are going to fit me. But I'm having fun with all the short rows!

note: finished sock still doesn't have the toe grafted because I finished it on the bus, and had to start the other one immediately (to avoid dreaded SSS). And even though I've done a fair bit of grafting in my time, I'm not crazy enough to do it without reviewing the directions at least once. So sock #2 is getting worked on 4 dpns instead of 5, until I get around to Kitchnering the damn thing.

Thwump!

That's the sound of my ass hitting the ground as I gleefully fall off the wagon. Yes, the great Yarn Diet of 2007 is now over, long live the yarn diet-less 2008. I celebrated by rushing around the corner to Windsor Button and dropping a fairly substantial chunk of change in about 15 minutes. Although this was my first opportunity to buy yarn in 365+ days, I did not go for the bags of Cascade 220 or 1824 Wool. Instead, I was looking for (of course) sock yarn and also for some special laceweight for the Bee Stole. Here's what I came away with:

Lang Jawoll Color Aktion, colorway 132.0209, 75% new wool, 25% nylon, 420 meters, for the Rainbow Socks from Magknits

Araucania Ranco, colorway 101, 75% wool/25% polyamide, 376 yds. Gorgeous kettle dyed purples and greys (the pictures do not do it justice). This is the only thing I don't have immediate plans for, but I think it will make gorgeous thick socks or something washable for a kidlet somewhere along the line.

Plymouth Yarn Co Happy Feet, color 5, 90% superwash merino, 10% nylon, 384 yds for the Tiger Eye socks (Ravelry link) from Socks, Socks, Socks. Soft squishy red, maroon, magenta and black, and not as bright as this photo.

J. Knits laceweight in Pueblo, 100% extra superfine alpaca, 4 oz/1200 yds for the Bee Stole (maybe). A beautiful greeny grey color. I swatched for the Bee Stole in the fingering weight alpaca I got from Peru this summer, but I'd like to try this too - that many black stitches might do in my already poor eyesight. I loved the Tupelo Gold colorway on Anne's blog, but not for me - I'm not really a yellow kind of girl. We'll have to see if this will work out.

We're still up in the frozen north, so regular posting will return next week with a list of goals for the year and final pictures of Christmas FOs. Happy New Year to you all!