Elsie and Alma

Vacation Ambition

The fam and I are headed out for a ski trip and I do not plan to post anything at all. I know there are ways to post through my iPhone, but I can't imagine I'll have much crafty or gardeny nonsense to share with you.

Here is what I am taking along:

I took this picture with the iPhone since the camera is already packed. One of these items is the sock I started for Britt, the other is a scarf for me. I will share more details about these projects when I return.

I always have grand ambitions of knitting on these trips, but somehow I usually end up skiing, sitting in the hot tub, drinking beer, playing with kids, playing cards, playing in the snow, and reading trashy magazines instead. Not that these are bad things. They are just not knitting.

See you in a few days. Maybe I'll add a couple of rounds to each of these after all. I mean, you can only drink so much beer. And I believe I've established that knitting and beer go together. Knitting and hot tub, not so much.

And they are done...

The boy's socks. This is a record, folks. I finished a pair of socks in less than 3 weeks. From 2 years to 3 weeks. I am making progress.

I placed them on the LEGO set he's been working on so I knew he'd find them. Like a sock fairy.

As soon as his sister saw them, she was pestering me. "Make my socks mommy!" We had to go downstairs that minute and haul up the yarn and "the pokes." I cast on the stitches over breakfast, and haven't done anything since...but that seemed to be enough to convince her that I had started them. I'll be working on them tonight while watching the latest version of Emma on PBS. WHOA, slow down! What a crazy life I live.

Knitting goes better with beer. Never doubt this. Caveat: Not too much beer, though.

Kid Socks

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Kid socks knit up So Much Faster. Because they are smaller and have fewer stitches. Genius.

My son picked out the yarn. I am not sure when we bought it, but it sure wasn't last week. Probably 9 months ago or more. I had good intentions of getting some socks made for him, but, well, did not get to them.

Until last Thursday. 

Look, I have already completed one sock and another is on the needles.

I love these colors! The yarn is Filatura di Crosa Maxime. Made in Italy. Colors gold/pumpkin/green. 80% merino wool superwash, plus 20% polyamide. The label suggests a size 4 needle. That seemed crazy to me. Size 4? Yikes. I used a size 1. Then again, I am a very loose knitter. It is rare when I don't go down at least one needle size from recommended.

I do love the hand dyed yarns, and in fact, I have a beautiful skein waiting to be made into socks right now. But these computer dyed yarns are great for matching. You can see when it is time to start the heel and toe.

The kid seems excited about the socks. As much as he can be, he's kind of a mellow little dude.

Found on: Craftzine.com blog : Totoro Mittens

ooooooh. look what i found today on the Craft blog. This dovetails nicely with my upcoming Selbu mitten project...

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Whether or not you're a Miyazaki fan, you have to admit that these Totoro Mittens are absolutely adorable. I love using the traditional stranded knitting technique from Norwegian mittens to create an image from pop culture. It works perfectly here! The pattern is available free on Ravelry, but you have to have an account to access it. (Via Whip Up.)

via blog.craftzine.com

Utter AWESOMENESS. I will be checking this out on Ravelry.

Socks: Putting the Fun in Functional

My friend gave me a pair of hand knit socks for Christmas a few years ago, and they've held up so well, I decided I wanted more. Previously, I'd never actually had much desire to knit myself socks. Something about it seemed so....unexciting. 

But I finally turned a heel on that. Ha.

And finally done. The yarn is Blue Moon, Socks that Rock, superwash medium weight, and the colorway is Scottish Highlands. Notice anything about the striping?

oh hello there. are we related?

Yeah. I am not sure if this is user error or the nature of the yarn.

Now take a look at the decrease stitches on the gussets above. What the what? If you look closely, you can see the gusset on the left is made up of fewer stitches in the decrease than the one on the right. This is what happens when you make your socks a year apart. I am starting to think I grabbed the wrong needles, maybe, or miscounted stitches. Or maybe on the left sock I decided, "Decreased enough, moving on!"

Here is where notes would have been helpful.

The great thing about socks, though: yes, they don't quite match and the color pooled up in almost the opposite configuration on each sock, and they have some weird shaping and size differences that I can't explain, BUT. They are still wearable, warm, and functional. In spite of the flaws and maybe some of the odd choices I made in the patterning (that is being generous), they are great socks. The yarn, for one, is wonderful. So soft. I will wear these.

Now, if I'd made a sweater with as many shortcomings it would never be worn. It would end up buried in the bottom of my yarn stash, waiting to be frogged. I say all of this as if I don't already have at least two of them in a plastic box half torn apart.

The good news, though, is in between Thing One and Thing Two shown above, I've made two complete pairs of socks for other people. The second pair is my favorite and came out very nicely. The practice paid off. Unfortunately, I took no pictures. You'll just have to trust me. They are wonderful, though. I hope they are being worn.

Update: Here are MY socks being worn. Hey, on the feet, hidden partially by pants and Birks, they look pretty awesome. Yes, I know, socks and sandals, but only with my Birkenstocks. I promise.