Another sock

Not just another sock, but my most unusual...
double knitted... which if I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it.  Which means you won't believe it either... instead of knit in the round, it is knit back and forth, both sides at the same time.  huh?

 One side and the other:

Finished!

It seemed to move along quickly... but it took me over a year to finish the first sock.  The second one was a few weeks...although anyone who knows my knitting, also knows I'm not very dedicated to one project at a time.  I think they are quite lovely, and tempted to do it again!
Thanks for the help, Leena!

Doublefun, ankle-high

by Leena Siikaniemi

from Think Outside the Sox

A Little Here, A Little There...

I'm not very "stick-to-it" this...week/month/year.  That's why I have so many projects and some SO close to finishing.
But the best news:  I'm typing this morning and suddenly realizing I'm using my left pinky, too!  For the past 40 hours, I've been letting it do its own thing, but being careful to NOT use it, like nine finger typing and no piano keys.  Today, I will take another giant step and see if it can play organ keys.  And maybe even piano keys, although I've learned a bunch of pieces for Sunday without it... Maybe I should just forget about that last part.
UNfortunately, it pains me the most when I'm knitting.  Bending and curling is the most uncomfortable and I've discovered that when knitting I position my pinky curled under the other fingers (for support?) and it gets really sore.  It was straight for 7 weeks...  It's getting better!
What have I knitted?

Side A of #3

Not easy to wear THIS sock!

1. I've finished the pants (Hello, Kitty), sewn the ears and bow on;  needs a face.
2. Completed the heel of my stripe sock, erm... one sock.  (Toe up)
3. Almost completed the heel FOR THE SECOND TIME on my double-knit sock. (See above.) This one is a challenge.  When I thought I was finished with the heel the first time, I discovered I had crossed the yarns AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SHORT ROWS and had to rip it all out and...carefully pick up the stitches.  (Double knitting:  Both sides of the sock are on one needle, alternating colors.  If the yarn twists, it's REALLY difficult to notice until it's rows past the mistake.
4. And I'm still intrigued with designs by chart (Cookie A) on one sock.  It's top down and I've completed about 4 inches.  It's so much fun to see patterns...

Side B of #3

More info on my Ravelry page.  Knit Knight To-Knight!

Socks, Out of Control

Why not start more?
Let's see.  I have a few on needles.

1. Argyle, 2-at-a-time
2. Lang, frogged, currently 4 rows of toe
3. DoubleFun, to be frogged.  Needs smaller needles.

Double Fun

DoubleFun is interesting... but slo-ohw.  Straight needles, double knitted.

Argyle

Don't know why I keep ignoring these... they are going to be great!
 And now:  Wedding socks.  Two pair...  Friends getting married.  Now THAT's a deadline.

Wedding: Find Your Way Home

And I love them all.  Odd... all three pictured are patterns from Think Outside the Sox. <3

Double the ...

Fun?  Several other words come to mind... as I cast on for the fifth time.  First, I want to say I have NO harsh words for the designer.  She has been SO helpful, from 6,000 miles away, and I certainly would be casting on many more than 5 times if she hadn't given me some very helpful tips.

The story:  Startitis, again, Spring, what can I say!  I purchased Knit. Sock. Love. last week and now I'm in love with every sock pattern (again). So I went back to some ideas:  Doublefun from Think Outside the Sox.  My first assumption turned out WRONG...  I thought by "double" I was going to be knitting two-at-a-time socks with one sock inside the other.  I've heard of it, and never tried it, and, since I'm obviously BORED need a challenge, I was ready to go!  Then I looked at the instructions.
Many things were missing:  Where does it say connect the stitches in the round, or how do you finish off the socks?  At the toe?  The needle size seemed big, and there are only 40 stitches cast on.
I was having a tough time visualizing any of this, so I cast on, 80 stitches, because surely they mean 40 of each color, and with 2.5mm needles, because surely (I talk a lot to Shirley) 3.5mm would be too big for sock yarn.  I got nowhere.
Then I went to Ravelry for the second time and really looked at everyone's comments and photos.  I discovered everyone was making the "stocking" length, which has completely different instructions, and they looked much clearer than the anklet form I was attempting.  Turns out that Ravelry had split the pattern into two separate patterns, which makes perfect sense, since they are so different.  I found one reference to a knitter exclaiming that he was knitting socks flat, with standard needles, and that put me on the road to recovery.  Flat!  Imagine that!
I followed the instructions, again, and since there was a comment about how important needle size is, I used 3.0mm (compromising what I thought was right with the instructions) and this time I tried the double-knitting technique I used on a previous scarf.  AHhhhh.  Now, I can get started.  But then I realized that I was knitting both sides of the sock in double knitting which means that my foot has to go between the layers!  Yes! ... uh, No...  In the above picture are attempts 2 (bottom) and 3 (top).  Attempt 2 had lovely stitches in two layers, but the bottom is "sewn" shut.  I looked at the pattern.  Yes, I did as explained, but it says Side B should be facing, and when I cast on Side A was facing. 
Can you see what a patient person I am?  *
At this point I'm back on Ravelry and now sending a pitiful message to the designer,  Leena Siikaniemi, 
AND I cast on attempt 3, which is a mini version, just to see if it's possible to make an opening at the bottom.  YES!  I finally feel it's going to be alright.
I'm so glad that Leena doesn't go to bed early, and has no life on Tuesday evenings, because she was online in a flash, and sent me 3 emails with some important information.  And I confidently cast on for the fourth time, to H... with the instructions, I know what it should be, but I'll give in on the needle size and used 3.5mm.  There has to be SOMETHING correct in the book...

I knit 3 rows and woefully show my friend, and wonder what it will look like with those big loopy stitches... and I receive a final "good night" email from Leena.  She included these words:

The most irritating mistake is how the notes tell to begin the rows. Every row begins: knit 1, purl 1 with the yarns: knit under purl in the beginning of a row.
A big thing is that the notes get the needle size to be too big. I knitted them on 2,5 mm needles.
((Oh, how much I sent information to make good instructions)).

I was crushed and relieved, too!  There you have it... I started at 8:30 am and by midnight I had three rows.

*A loop cast on... it can be looped holding the yarn in either hand, this I discovered because I'm ambidextrous, and that determines which color will be facing you on row one.  I know... TMI

Remember back then?

I had a contest... back in March.  Details HERE.
And here's the short story version... Three contests in one, I invited everyone to guess how much knitting on the three projects I would get done while my daughter and granddaughter were visiting.  The results?  I finished the hat, the mittens and the scarf were partially/far from finished.
Today, I finished the scarf and ripped out the mittens.  (One of those mixed days...)
The scarf is super.

Pattern:  Hönkä by Eeva Saviranta from Ulla 1/07; Yarn:  Wool 8/2 Effektgarn by Kauni, Sport / 5 ply, 100% Wool, 656 yards

I can't get enough of those colors!

So off to Norway it goes.
The mittens... I knitted a bit on them last night, did a row of cupcakes and when I had to look for more bits of yarn, stolen from other projects I realized that the pile of yarn I "inherited" from Norway would be perfect for them.  I also have been having pangs of guilt about using yarn I specifically bought for a cardigan.
Today I felt justified frogging the whole thing, and will start with a thinner weight of yarn which will be pleasing to the touch and eye.

Cupcake Mittens by SpillyJane from SpillyJane Knits

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A Tale of Two Yarns and Two Cities

Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns.  TWO CITIES
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

I walk in the door, and it takes my breath away.  I can’t take my eyes off of it... The colors are amazing, and the combinations!  

I live in a desert.  A desert where there is such limited yarns, I have to make the pilgrimage to the oasis of Yarn Durango, 65 miles away to get a fix.  With a quick phone call I can always count on finding someone to accompany me on my journey.  But on this occasion I’m not where I live, but where I’m visiting.

I have another home away from home.  It’s 4,756 miles away from the desert and is a knitter’s dream come true. Bergen, Norway, where yarn shops, and shops that have yarn tucked in corners are on every street.  Where wool is important to survival, a necessity! That is where I found this yarn for sale, at the front door of a shop in the same building as my 3rd floor apartment.  What good fortune! That was August 2009.

Since then, these bad boys have been calling my name and I've been calling for the perfect pattern.  Then:

I walk in the door, and it takes my breath away.  I can’t take my eyes off of it... The colors are amazing, and the combinations! 

(Yes, I meant to repeat myself...)

I'm back in Durango, and it's February 2011, and the same 'effekt' hits me.  This time I see the pattern.  (Listen up shop owners: Knitted-up yarn SELLS!)

So here I am, happy as can be with my scarf in double knitting using one of the two balls.  Why is this "Two Yarns"?  It IS two yarns since I'm using the reverse from the inside of one ball, and getting the pleasure of two colorways.
  
Simple pleasures:  I sit for hours patiently waiting for the colors to evolve to the next shade and hue.  They are SO gradual that I've been patient for a month only to see Blue/Purple/Red on one side and Green/Yellow/almost Orange on the other. This may be a VERY LOOOONG scarf.  It makes me smile...

Aside:  All of the yarn in these two pictures are the same colorway. The ball in the first picture is the very same ball on the left of the second picture, with some layers removed. 

What's with the Weekend?

Things to do on the weekend:
(caveat:  being semi-retired, there are many days during the week that are more weekend-like than Sunday, when I HAVE to get up for pay - especially unfortunate that I'm taking my time adjusting to the time change which was almost 2 weeks ago)
WIP's
Many more may find their way into my hands, but these are the top 4:

#1 - a little bolero that makes me smile

cotton, 3.5 mm needles

#2 - a double-knit scarf

Kauni, 3.0 mm needles

#3 - Europa tedious shawl

Merino lace-weight, 2.5 mm needles

#4 - portable orange sock

ALWO Sport and Sock, 2.5 mm needles

Only the bolero has a deadline of June.

Contest #2

This might be the final for Contest #2:  The reversible, double knitted scarf.
It's a beauty!  And I love to work on it, but I'm going for the hat, with only one more day to go.
Here's the scarf status:  15 inches, and I think it should be at least 40 inches when finished.
The colors may determine how far I'll go.

Yes, they are the same (one) scarf from the same ball of Kauni.  I'm pulling the green-yellow from the center, at the same time using the blue-purple from the outside of the ball.
I could make this a contest... notice that the purple is turning red.   What color in the rainbow comes after purple and red?  And what color comes after green-yellow?  The answer is ONE color.  I'm anxiously awaiting the fate of the orange... Will I have orange on orange?  Will they be identical or just a shade different?  The suspense is killing me!!

What's Knitting?

Another Thursday evening with nine of us gathered for discussion about everything, and help for knitters with picking up stitches for a collar, counting rows after the cat removed the needles, and heavy duty ball winding.
MLE is often busy, but she took time out to continue her futile attempt at finishing her sweater (in less than 7 years...).  She's got those beautiful sleeves to show for it! Go M!!

Fee is stretching one slipper to match the other and eager to wear them. Will they ever dry?  Gorgeous grays!

And Jee is on to something new - a baby not yet born:  Where's the sock?

And Simone has news of a summer grandson expected, Dr. P is still wearing her Winconsin shirt, Dee is twisting those cables again and again for her baby blanket in the round, Lee is cross-stitching roses on a piano, and Bee enjoyed the Bliss!
I showed off my granddaughter in her knitted finery, and two of the three contest pieces.  Really, I'm not swayed by guesses, and have been working on them as much as time will allow.  That's the point:  Toddler Time is a black hole!
Cupcake mittens:  One mitten need the convertible cap, the other mitten is up to the second cupcake row (which is the very beginning of the increase for the thumb gusset).
Scarf:  I the scarf (reversible, double knitted) in colors that I want to see.  Unfortunately, I have to look at the chart, so it's very slow going when there are 3 or 4 conversations to tend to... The pattern calls for 2-1/2 repeats, and I'm at 1.3.  However, by the size, I think I have to do at least 3 full repeats to get all the colors I want to see.
Hat:  Ummmm.  I haven't touched the hat.  It won't be much of a priority until my daughter mentions (on Monday) that she needs it for English weather on Thursday.

Time with a Toddler

For the next few weeks, a toddler will be living at my house!  How much knitting do you think I'll get done by March 16?  I have three things that I would 'like' to get done by that date. And by 'like' I mean I intend to send them off with their recipients that day.  Is this craziness?  If you would like a prize of your own, I'm running a contest!  I have 3 lovely tea towels from around the world that I will send to those who guess correctly the stage of each project on March 16th.
Contest #1:  The Mittens.  Cupcake Convertible Mittens as seen on Ravelry. (All links are to Ravelry.)  This is using the colorwork from the cupcake mittens and with the knitting pattern Broad Street.  Here's what they (er, only the first one) look(s) like today:

First mitten up to stitches being held for thumb

Contest #2:  The Scarf.  A double-knitted scarf with Kauni.  This is going to be tricky, but guess how long it will be by March 16.  (I don't know myself, yet!)

4-1/2 inches long

Contest #3:  Hat.  Newly started (last night), this is knitted flat as a head band and then a knitted disc top.  Pattern:  Braid & Bobble Hat.  The theme for all of these is the purple color and (in my demented knitter's mind) intended as a set with different patterns and yarns.

Shows 2 of 10 repeats for the headband.

Contest rules:  You must make your guess-timates by midnight Friday, March 4th, and the closest to correct wins!  There will be three winners, one in each contest, even if I have to have a run-off in case of ties. (Unless NO ONE enters.)
Good luck!

Double the fun!

Double knitting
A little slow going to begin with but that's mainly because I can't believe my eyes!  It makes no sense that it should turn out as lovely as it does.
I've been looking for something to make with Kauni:

The same piece on reverse sides.
More later, when the colors change... it will be awhile...Loooong colors.