Sock knitting happens

The sock knitter has returned.

I accomplished a lot yesterday.

Funny how that happens when I need more socks in such a big way.  And the almost instant gratification of socks feels very good even after all this time.

I also need some sweaters.  Soon enough I keep telling myself.

Mixed and Muddled

I did all sorts of things over the weekend.  None of them was spinning.  Oh well.  That can be this weeks goal.  I just have so many other things in my head screaming to get out.

The first thing was the new technique I wanted to try between Christmas and New Years.  Last time, my technique thing was learning to use a Norewgian thimble.  I did that.  Then  wanted to try double knitting, where you knit a two sided fabric.  Lucy Neatby used to have some very good videos on that, but I had taken a class a long time ago and just went forward from what I remembered.

I decided to try a mitten because that was what I needed.  And still need.  

I started with a regular ribbed cuff and then started the double knitting.  Looks decent, right? 

It looks good even from the inside.

If you look carefully you will see that the inside seems to be knit of twisted stitches and yes that is so.  I wasn't worried about twisted stitches so I just did the purls my continental combined sort of way.  The advantage to that would be the tiniest bit smaller mitten for the inner mitt.  I think it worked because the pair is wonderfully smooth.  You will see that there is no thumb nor will there be.  There are so many problems with it there was no point in going on with it.  The decreases at the top of the mitten gaped and the design is not centered.  Plus what I really would prefer over mittens is gloves.  

It was a great technique and it has such a natural rhythm.  Next time I will try a hat in double knitting and I will knit plain gloves for use.

Next thing I did over the weekend was to move forward on knitting my Scandinavian Star Vest.

This way of knitting colourwork is definitely faster than the two handed method I have been doing.  I am hoping to keep the tension more even to boot.  

One thing I have always wondered with these colour choices is do they have the right difference to show up the star design.  I am never very confident in my colour choices and this blue is such a soft blue.  It ought to show up well on a pure white ground.  It does.

The same picture in black and white show clearly that this is a good combination and I have high hopes for the finished vest.

And then, in the between times, I knit socks.  

I am sort of enamoured with this colour of Jawoll.  That pop of orange among the greens makes me happy.  I am going with a 2 x 2 rib for a cuff.  I did think about a pattern but really, those strong colours should be free to do all the talking for themselves.  

So many things to knit on all muddled together. Its sort of nice.   

On Spinning

I will get the knitting out of the way first this morning.  I did work on my vest, and though slow, it is coming along.  I am getting better at carrying two yarns in one hand and keeping it all straight.  And I did some sock knitting.  I am not going to commit myself to anything more than some sock knitting every day, even if it is only a row or two.  Aiming for more than that could easily defeat me.  I only know, I want more socks.  

Today's real job is to think about spinning.  I haven't spun for ages and cleaning my stuff is reminding me that I still want to spin.  The problem is can my hands do it in a reasonable way that isn't going to compromise the long term knitting?  

I have all the things.  Wheels.

Box of empty storage type bobbins and lace flyer.

Half finished spinning projects waiting for plying.

Ongoing spinning and plying projects.

Bits and pieces from large bag o' spinning stuff. And there is much more in the closet plus a couple of half fleeces and a spanking new carder too.

Shetland fibre, ready to spin.  Carded from a top, I think.  

It almost took my breath away, looking at this box.  The carded bits seem to have regained the smallest bit of crimpiness.  Can you see the very soft wavy bit there?  Topped by a bit of a sample of course.  

It's been ready to work with for a long time.  I haven't spun for at least three years.  I think about it though but the wheels have lived in a corner of my bedroom for a very long time.

A bit of my very first yarns.  They are terrible.  And so they should be.  I didn't keep the very first yarn barfy bit and I wish I had.  I did make a wee scarf with a bit of the blue stuff.

And then, my box of finished yarns.  There are two grey singles caked and ready to ply here as well but this is the finished stuff, washed and ready to knit with.  

They are not perfect, not by a long shot.

I think I was aiming for perfect till a friend pointed out that I seemed to be demanding that of my spinning and expecting it.  She saw how tense the idea and the action of plying made me. I am forever grateful that she said what she saw and helped me learn.

This is  some of the nicest stuff I have at hand and seeing it again as I went through it made me wish I was knitting with it right now.  And I might as soon as I get the double knitting stuff off my needles.

I have actually knit with some of this.  This is the nicest yarn I made yet.  It is wonderfully pouffy and soft.  It is a very much thick and thin but it is balanced well and just feels like...happiness. Like a skein full of joy and the lightness of simply existing.

I know.  It sounds silly but there it is.  

I used some of this, almost all of this wee bit of sampled stuff to knit Keith a hat along with some yarn from Custom Woollen Miills,  

which he still wears I might add.  Its very pleasing seeing someone wearing my handspun out and about.  I doubt that he knows it is special at all. 

I pay much more attention these days to what is special in each thing I encounter.  I try much harder now to do that in every part of my world.  It brings me so much more peace and serenity to look for and to see the beauty of what is, right in this moment.  

For now, I plan to do some spinning.  I plan to fix some of the overspun and underspun yarn.  I plan to see if I still enjoy spinning and if it can fit in my world.  If it fits, great. If it doesn't, well, it doesn't and it will fit in someone else's world.  

I'm going to hope for the great part.  Yeah.  I think I would like that.

Canadian Laidback Cleaning

Yesterday was an unsettled sort of day.   I couldn't seem to properly set my mind to any one thing.  I wanted to do all the things.  That sometimes happens after a big project.  Though there were ten blankets, in my mind, they were one big project.  Add Christmas in and my whole self is in an odd kind of post season post project lull.  

I did work on my blanket but only to take it as far as I needed to be ready to start the colour work.  

I am not going to be working on that today.  Today my plan is to work on my vest.  

That has sat, unworked on for far too long. I could use it in my wardrobe. When I need a respite I will work on this sweater

where the rows are short but a wee bit boring.  It is 3/4 complete and then it will be on to the sleeves.

Most of my day is going to be tidying and reorganizing in my study/bedroom.  I like to go through stuff once in a while to remind myself of what I have and more.  It is time to ask myself why I have these things and do I really need them.  It's like that gentle art of Swedish death cleaning but in a slow laidback Canadian kind of way.  It isn't anything new.  I have done this kind of thing all my life.  I have had to since I seem to collect a lot of stuff.  Maybe it is because when we were kids my mom made us go through our dresser drawers routinely. It certainly never transformed into full on housecleaning with me but I do like to be routinely organized having a structure to my stuff. I can deal with anything if it has a structure I understand and am comfortable with around me.

Anyway, today is all about digging through my stuff.  Work though that is, it is all fun.  And knitting on top of it.        

New Year, New Fun

Yup.  My New Years cast on is a blanket.  

Willow World by Lotta Lundin.  I have loved this blanket from the moment I saw it and I am so excited to make it.  The pattern is really just a chart with some very spare cast on information but then, it is a blanket and the information provided is really all I need to be getting on with.  

The charts are printed out just like sweing patterns, where there is a section per page.  I did have to set the scale on my printer so it printed properly but that really wasn't a big problem to sort out.  I put it together so that I could see the whole thing at once figuring that would help me stay on track.  This is also where I wished I remembered how to fold up a blueprint properly so that it pulled out nicely from a stapled bunch of pages.  Oh well.  

What a lovely design.  I had thought seriously about drafting my own but this is so much better.  I am not a designer nor do I have the patience or the eye to do it well.  I can follow a design, but inventing one is much much harder.  It is nice to see that somewhere out there are other knitters with my same fascination for blue and white china patterns.

In a perfect world, I would be knitting it with pure wool, but the yarn I want to use for this was from my grandkids making it the best yarn in the world.  Bernat Supersoft.  There are advantages to using this.  It's a blanket so I want to not worry about putting it away when not in use.  I want to drape it on the chair and have it out all the time.  I want to be able to wash it easily.  See all that white yarn?  I am not that clean and tidy so I want easy care in every way.  

The downside is that the nicest way to knit this is in the round so there is the steeking to be worried about.  Steeking works with wool because wool felts and the yarn stays in place.  Acrylic not so much.  I am concerned that the wear a blanket takes will make for unstable edges.  I already have a plan to deal with that trouble when I get to it and  that less than pretty but sturdy edge will be hidden inside an applied icord edge.  

I started knitting the border in stockinette and then realized the better option would be garter stitch edges, so I switched to garter stitch. I left the edge as it was.  It will roll up nicely and I will finish the cast off in the same way.  The edges will match the icord sides without the effort of icord. You can see the tidy little roll here.

I had hoped to be able to start the colourwork this morning, but I have two garter ridges to do till I am there. There is not point overdoing it. My hands and I are starting to come to an understanding as I learn how to adapt to knitting with some arthritic joints.  

I am also going to start working on socks.  The Yarn Harlot is doing her same grab bag and pattern prep for a year of socks.  She is committing to ten rows a day on each sock so that each month, she will have a pair of socks appearing without hardly a thought.  I found I really enjoyed the advent socks I made doing then rows per day on each sock, so I am thinking seriously of doing this same thing.  I have not knit too many sock patterns, much preferring to knit plain socks up till now, but I find that the ones I reach for first, the ones I wear a lot, are ones that took some thinking.  Like my advent socks, like my much loved monster socks, like Monkey socks, I seem to be looking for just a little something more in my sock knitting these days.   It might be fun to set up sock surprises and see what happens.  

I also have big plans for that pile of fabric I have in the sewing room.  I have a miniature garden to work on for my miniature house.  I have puzzles to set.  I have new novels to read.  (Starting yesterday. National Just Read More Novels Month begins! NaJuReMoNoMo on Facebook) And I have grandkids to play with. There is no possible way to be bored with all this wealth of things to do.  

I am looking forward with a great deal of joy to this new year.  Best get on with it.

2023 Enough

I was reading over my blog this morning as I often do on New Years Eve.  Its a nice way of going through what was at the end of one place in time and the beginning of another.  My conclusion?  I lived.

Half the year was adapting to all the things that came after my hospitalisation in 2022.  That same half the year was beset by hand issues that are still being sorted and understood.  Much of the year was filled with worry about my youngest grandchild, Everett and would his troubles be sorted. (They were.) Much of the year was the joy of being surrounded by my grandkids and chasing after them and thinking about them as I worked. 

At the start of the year there was precious little knitting, but I learned to keep myself busy in different ways.  I puzzled, I wove on a pin loom, I did a whole bunch of miniature things for my cabinet house, I read many books. And then I knit blankets.  Lots of blankets.  Lots and lots of blankets. Ten to be precise.  Everybody has one.  Carter has two and even Jane and her mom and dad have one.    

I am really proud of them all.

I also completed several pairs of socks.

I am so glad I got these done.  I really needed them and am going to have to keep doing a few rows on socks every day for a while to replenish my sock drawer.

I did some kid things.

I did some me things.

I did some learning things.

All in all, even though much of the year was stymied by troubles and issues, these have been small things.  I had a great year and that is all that I can ask for.

I am surrounded by love, I am warm and well housed, I have enough.  That is so much more than so many have.  I never forget that.  I am blessed and that is enough.

Norwegian Knitting Thimble

Before I begin the big breaking news of the blog, hi to Wendy from Elmira. I hope you have a great New Year.  

And now,  Wow. Just wow.

Using a Norwegian knitting thimble or ring is amazing.  

I completed this in a couple hours.  I aimed to make a small close fitting cowl, something close fitting and almost turtleneck like. I wanted to be able to use it as a headband for winter wear and to be able to push it down and wear around my neck.  Headbands are everywhere this year and though it is small for a cowl, it suits what I want.  This is the result.  I will be redoing the cast off this morning.  It's sloppy and I can do better.  Serves me right for pushing when I ought to have left it for today.

It took about two hours using the knitting thimble and the above result is as it came off the needles.  No blocking.  It is impressively smooth for the colourwork I produce.  Using the little Norwegian Knitting Thimble made the whole process smooth.  It took all the effort out of it, all the worry about holding yarn to tight or too loose is simply not a thing at all.  The yarn just behaves, very much like you are holding one strand.    All of the very talented and nimble fingered among you who can do it off one finger without a thimble?  You have my endless admiration.  But thank heavens for the person who invented this tool.  The knitting ring is going to become a very treasured tool.  

A few things to know.  I knit continental.  Specifically, continental combined.  This tool is designed for use by those among us who tension and feed our yarn with our left hand.  I'm not sure if it can be useful for those of you who tension your yarn with your right hand.  But I trust the answer is out there.  

One after Christmas adventure was a complete success.

The second adventure begins today.  I need some new mittens.  My current pair have shrunk in length.  I wear them at night as a second layer over my wristwarmers on occasion. It is really great for easing mild arthritic pain. I need a new pair for going out and about.  

I am going to stick with this yarn and I am going to try double knitting some mittens.  I will use the rust and green to form a pattern to match the headband/neckwarmer.  Might as well coordinate, right?     There are a few times where a double sided fabric would be a benefit.  

Off I go adventuring.  I am buoyed by yesterday's success but will proceed with care.  Wish me luck.   

The days between

I am having a lovely Christmas and Christmasing won't finish till after New Years, but I wanted to pop in and show you what I am up to. 

I have been wanting to get back to this long paused colourwork project, a vest from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests, the Scandinavian Star vest.

I bought a Norwegian knitting thimble to see if I can speed up and smooth out my colourwork.  I had one of these for decades but never knew how to use it, so was given away a long time ago.

Now, with youtube tutorials, I know how to use it.  I am going to cast on a practice project of some sort to get used to it.  I think a cowl or wrist warmers but I am not certain of the yarn or pattern yet. A bit of a stash dive will inspire me, I am sure.

I am also thinking of giving a go to a small double knitting project to see how that goes.  I took a class on the basics many years ago, and just never got around to it since.  I wasn't very successful at it, but it is time to give it another go.  The desire to learn double knitting has been lingering even longer than my wish to do brioche, a technique where I now have two projects on the go. 

I did have time for a few stitches on some socks over the last couple of days.  Not many stitches and not much time but enough to keep the edge off and to relax me before bed.  

I have been so excited for Christmas this year, more so than for many years.  I feel like a little kid about it and that is the best gift of all.  

See you soon.

Solisticial Delights

This is it.  Last night at about 8:30 p.m., the darkest day was marked.  It is officially winter.  

And I am thrilled.  That means from today, days are getting longer.  We may be going into the coldest time of the year but the days are getting longer and that makes it all right.

I have cookies to decorate and butter tarts and buns to make but that is it. I might make some cheesecake tarts too but pie crust is easy and it doesn't take much to make cut out small circles.  This is the most baking I have done in years and I am loving it.  So is Keith.  He is the test pilot or quality control.  He likes his job. 

Of course I like to eat some of it too.  

I did no knitting yesterday but for two rows on a plain sock.  I did pull it back to the toe and pulled out the last two increase rounds to get to my desired stitch count.  

Pulling it back and making it the right size might seem a bit of a downer, but honestly, for me, making it right feels good.  It just means more knitting plus the finished product is going to fit nicer and there is nothing like a pair of handknit socks that fit your feet well.  

This blog is going to go on a bit of a pause over the next week or so.  I will probably pop in later next week, but I am going to take some days to simply relax and goof around and just play. There will be knitting but no serious push to finish things.  There are a few play projects in the planning stages and there is a good possibility that the only thing I will do is knit swatches for colours and gauge swatches or to teach myself new techniques.  There will be much reading of favourite books and finding comfort in familiar and the familial.  (My kids are all visiting)

From my house to yours, whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year, I wish you the very best.  I wish for peace for all of us, for plenty for all of us, for joy in all the ways we need to find it.

 

Cooking Cooking

Baking continues, or at least icing the cookies.  I am debating gingerbread cookies, but they are always left on the cookie tray so it seems like a waste.  Around here, they would eat the candy off the gingerbread houses, but not the cookies themselves.  

I do have to make poppy seed rolls and that is what I will focus on today.  There are other things to do, but these are a family favourite so I will be doing at least a double batch of these.  They are a bit of a pain to make but they are well worth it. 

I need a prepping day too.  I am going to carmelise onions and chop celery and make the turnip casserole. Luda will make cabbage rolls and vereniki for Christmas day, and I will contemplate salads. Christmas is the biggest feast we have.  

     

Any knitting that happens is going to be socks.  It would be scarf knitting but there are no scarves on any of my needles at all.  

And off I go.  I am looking forward to the day, but at the same time, I am looking forward to the quiet contemplation of the days between Christmas and New Years.

Socks But Not Meditation

Cookie baking has commenced.  Today is more cookie baking and then tomorrow, icing the cookies and baking buns.  

When I was little my mom baked and baked and baked at Christmas.  She did that most of her life for us and though I cannot vouch for my sisters and brother and my dad, I can say that we showed our appreciation by eating it.  I have a feeling that as fast as she baked, we ate.  She is a very, very talented baker.

I remember at Christmas she would bake in the morning and then spend the rest of the day icing one type of cookie.  As she worked, whole dishpans would fill with cookies, before she was done.  She would make dozens of squares, chocolate ones, date ones,  and pies too, all sorts of things so our tables was always well filled for Christmas. Plus the turkey and stuffing.  Sigh it was a golden time in my memories.  I only know that when I attempt to do things like she did, I end up so tired.  I am not remotely the woman she is.  Even now in her mid eighties, she can still outpace me.  

Anyway, today I shall do a bit more baking, but only enough to keep the kids, big and little happy.  I would rather do a bit every once in a while, in part because that is more relaxing but also because I don't have the giant freezer she had.  

There was knitting on the sock yesterday, but not a lot.  I did take out one of the plain socks to look at this morning, and to knit on and you know what.  

I have to pull it back to the toe.  With the change in my foot size, it just doesn't need to be 72 stitches. The ones I am working on right now are 64 stitches and that fits really well.  So back to the beginning I go.  It means I have to have a look at the other pairs of socks on my needles too.  If they are 68 stitches, I can work with that, particularly on the plain socks, but if they are also 72, back to the beginning they go.  

I am going to have to look at these as well, but it will be an easy fix here.

It would be particularly sad if I had to pull back the other two pairs of socks.  One is my I Scream socks from Operation Sock Drawer. and the other is my A Drawer Full socks, also from Operation Sock Drawer.  

The I Scream socks are coming along nicely though when I started them, my brain was not really clear and there may be errors in the patterning.  Don't look too hard.  

I am doing them in regular commercial sock yarns to keep things budget friendly and dryer friendly, and I really want these socks.  They remind me of may dad so these are important to me but if they don't fit well, they don't fit so if I have them on 72 stitches, they will come out.  

The A Drawer Full socks are a bit harder to know.  If the colourwork is too tight, 72 stitches will be okay but if I am doing it right, 72 will be too big.    

I am not 100% sure of my yarn choice.  The colours are not doing what I hoped they would do so it might be okay to rip back and change it out for something that shows up better.  Or I could just keep going and let them be.  I really don't know.  That is if I have them on an amount of stitches that will work for my feet now.    

It is time for me to start my baking.  Christmas is soon here and there is much to do.

Lots to do

For all that it was a quiet knitting day, there were a lot of things to do.  First up, I had to weave in the rest of the ends on Janes blanket.  

It took almost no time at all.  This yarn is so easy to hide all the ends.

Then, it was time to get the blankets rolled up and into bags for giving.

Not too much fancy from me.  The bags are simply the best option and with a tiny bit of ribbon to holiday it up, it will do quite nicely.

The rest of the day was full of laundry and household chores but in the late afternoon, I had a bit of time to knit.  I pulled out all my socks and assessed the state of the various ongoing socks.  

I didn't want to do colour work and the two plain socks are barely begun.  Then I got to this sock.  I still love the pattern  but not for this yarn.  I just didn't feel any love for the combination at all.  With another yarn and at another time.

Ripped.

I pulled a few sock books off the shelf and took a look through them.  One caught my eye. 

This is Scottish Kilt Hose from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush.  

I'm not really interested in the fold over cuff but I love that little detail on the leg.  I have seen more than a few sweaters this winter with that kind of detail, a little column of alternating yarn overs running down them, or a columnar faggoting stitch.  It's one of those hidden gems of knitting: quick to knit, looks lovely, still rather mindless and is easy to read in your ongoing work. 

So that is what I decided to do.

And once again, Folk Socks surprises me.  This is where I found the best description of adding reinforcement on the inside of a sock.  

Folk Socks is one of those books that has been around forever.  It still is available and is well worth having on your bookshelf.  There is so much in it besides patterns.

As for me I am off to the kitchen today.  Cookie baking commences.

A Spree

Four edges.  See them?

The blanket is finished.  Only my own blanket remains and that is going to be a pleasure from pattern to yarn.  For now, finishing this makes me feel really good.

That led to finishing these. My advent knit socks.  

I really loved making these.  Yarn from the stash and following the rule of seven.  Seven rows of colour, three rows of white.  I knit ten rows per day, one set of white and one colour.  It worked out pretty well.  In the end, I went with a plain cuff, even though I debated about adding single row stripes to it.  I tried it and it felt fussy and it took away from the punch of the clarity of the rest.  Better plain.

And then I still had energy and time left so I did this.

I finished another pair of socks.  These are Opal socks, from the painter series (famous painters and colour ways based on a work of theirs).  

Both pairs of socks are a little shorter than all my previous pairs.  Putting them on the sock forms reminded me that I have to peel off a bit of the sock form too.

There is something powerful about finishing a project.  I always feel strong and have such a clear sense of accomplishment.  Some people get that from cleaning a place.  My friend Debbie once said she thinks her hobby is cleaning.  My mom is sort of that way too, though mom always loved to cook too.  For me it is knitting.  Forever my happy place.  

I am feeling a bit of the usual lull that follows a finishing.  I have no idea what to pick up to work on.  Good thing it is laundry day...Wait.  What?  

Garments that I love.

This mornings bright and early did not happen so bright and early.  I did not get out of my room till 10 a.m.  I had a long period of wakefulness last night and compensated for it by sleeping in.  It was great but I feel behind.  It just past noon and I am only on my second cup of coffee and I ought to be having breakfast but instead I shall have lunch.

I started my second to last stripe on my socks this morning having knit the yellow stripe yesterday.  

As I write this, the red stripe is complete on sock one and I am about to start on sock two.  I am thinking about the cuffs and how I want to do them.  They could be plain white like the toes and heels or they could have a row or two of each of the colours in them too.  I haven't quite decided yet, but it is fun to think about.

I am well on my way on the blanket too, so it was a pretty good knitting day yesterday.

I put on one of my lighter weight sweaters this morning, 

I will show you the unfinished photo because it really shows the shape of this sweater.  It is made in a DK weight wool and cotton and is one of the nicest things to wear.  I usually find it not quite warm enough for deep winter, but this year I am finding it is reached for often.  

It is almost perfect for today but my upper back still feels a bit of a chill, so I grabbed a shawl to put on.  When I was working at the yarn store, I wore shawls a lot.  Some of them stayed sitting on my shoulders no matter what I was doing, and that was exactly what I needed for today.  Something that would stay put but keep me just that little bit warmer is what I needed.

I even am colour coordinating today.  If that is not success, I don't know what is. 😁  

It is the Simple yet Effective Shawl by Laura Chow  and is one of my favourite things I have ever knit.  I knit it in two skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock.  The pattern was published in 2008 and is still being knit today.  It is one of those really nice relaxing knits that is always showing you something interesting about yarns and colour. It isn't particularly well executed.  That back spine is rather wobbly.  I had only been really been knitting a couple years at that point and missed that the markers sometimes slipped under the yarn overs.  Whenever I wore it to work, someone commented on it and in its time, it managed to sell more than a few skeins of Noro sock yarns. It reminds me of all the good friends I made working there and of one of the loveliest jobs I ever had. 

Past noon though it is, it is time to make my breakfast/ lunch.  I think an omelet with some whole grain bread toast is in order.  Or maybe some salmon with with crackers and pickles.  I'm hungry and that is all know for sure.

May Monday find that the blanket is complete.  I am going to give it my all.