From Head to Toe

Ok, I know I've been showing a lot of hats and cowls lately, so I thought I'd change it up and show you these socks that were supposed to be for Troy:

As you may recall, I started them last March when we went to Alberta to celebrate our 12.5th anniversary. (Seriously, that's a thing if you're Dutch.) I worked on them very much during the trip and little bit after the trip, but didn't finish the first sock until mid-August.

I had Troy try them on along the way and had him try on the finished sock as well. They were "snug" but I carried on with the second sock. By mid-August, having completed the one sock, I was determined to have the pair done by September 9th, the date of our actual anniversary. I made it: 8 pm, September 9th they were done.

Troy obligingly tried them on that evening and although we could get them on his feet (yes, "we" since I actually had to help!), it really was no longer realistic to say they "fit." It was very disappointing.

I chucked the socks to the side as I thought about ways I could fix them. The length of the foot was ok. The calf width was ok. It was mostly the heel and the part around the ankle. Could I cut a row out right above the heel and re-knit it? Should I just take out the lower part of the leg and somehow graft the wider part onto the foot again? These and other ideas swirled around in my head for a while until I came up with the easiest way to fix it--I would wear these socks (they somehow magically fit me perfectly) and knit a new pair for Troy. Sorry about the wait, honey.

So that is what I am doing.

It took me a while to take pictures (socks in timeout do not get their picture taken) so that is why I am sharing these so long after they were finished.

I made up the pattern (hmm...maybe the first problem?). Toe up, the sock has a basic 2x2 rib on top of the foot and all around the leg, a simple and basic gusset, and a flap heel.

To make sure the leg fit, I added increases on either side of the center six stitches, incorporating the new stitches into the rib pattern:

They're very warm, and I have to say I like wearing them! I did a lot of worrying about whether the socks would stay up while making them and took the trouble to knit in elastic band with the top ribbing. It seems to work pretty well. It's not like the socks never slip down, but they stay up pretty well.
Project Stats
Started: 9 Mar '13
Finished: 9 Sep '13
Pattern: my own
Materials: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (1292 Brown), 1-1/3 skeins ($21)

And Troy's socks? Well...I started a pair with this Mini Mochi I purchased last December.

I've made one pair of socks out of this yarn and, although I don't think it's the most durable, they are by far the comfiest socks I have. The yarn is soft and fuzzy in all the right ways.

I actually started the socks in early November because I needed a project I could take to the Notre Dame game.

By the time I pulled it out again to take to the live taping we went to of the radio show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, it had occurred to me that it was coming out a little large for me and would work for Troy.

(It wasn't the best pattern for knitting
in the near dark, but I made do.)

A week later, the sock was traveling with me when I went on a day trip to Chicago with some family.

A lot of knitting got done on the train rides.

All this is to say that this sock is having an exciting time of it. I have the first one done up to the final ribbing and have the second one done to the gusset. (It's with me in Missouri right now so still traveling!) I seemed to have made enough notes to make the second one match the first. (Always a plus.)

Yes, Troy has tried them on and we agree that they fit. I hope this time we are right...

Deadline Schmeadline (I made it)

I love you thiiiiiiiiiiis much!

At about 8:00 this evening I finished Troy's anniversary socks. They are freakishly long. All they need now is a nice blocking. Happy anniversary, honey!

After I finished them it occurred to me that I don't have any projects on the needles. Quelle horreur! I don't think that's happened since 2008.

But I do have one swatch I just finished

so it is set to be cast on...

...and this one is blocking

and ready to be assembled and have the trim knit on.

Later I remembered I do have this little dish cloth on the go:

It's one of the ones I work on while walking, and it has been a while. But really, I can't count this. It would be like reading over the grocery list and claiming that you're reading a book. Time to cast on a couple things. My stash has been waiting long enough.

Slow Socks, a Step Back, but Progress Still

Projects are limited right now as I'm putting in a lot of hours at work. And everything is considered crucial this time of year and the pressure is really on so I come home with "zombie head." I have done some simple knitting and crocheting, and this week helped Troy with canning his peaches. (All done now, thank goodness!) But lots of evenings, I'm not even up for that.

Ok, so I know the sock looks ridiculously long,
but it really loses a lot of length as it stretches
widthwise. Really.

I have, however, been making some progress on Troy's socks. With long days, I try to take time to take a half hour break and sit and knit while listening to my newly-discovered NFL podcasts.

The first sock was stalled at some point when I had to put the stitches on a thread and have Troy try them on. I was worried about their being long enough and fitting his calf. By the time he tried them on they were very nearly knee socks. I had in my head that they should be longer, but Troy's voice of reason reminded me that they were already plenty long and in fact longer than any other socks he owned. Ok, so off to the finishing cuff...

I decided to work an elastic thread in with the top 1x1 rib:

It is a big pain in the butt, but I hope it will help keep the socks from slouching. The cuff ended up being about 1.75" deep.

Then it was off to the second sock. I was hoping it would move faster since I didn't have to figure things out or have Troy try them on anymore. I think the time not figuring things out is spent in making sure it matches the first sock, but I am definitely saving time by skipping the fittings.

I was making good progress and yesterday was looking at finishing the heel. I worked the heel flap with a knit 1, slip 1 pattern which reinforces the back of the heel. (Unfortunately it also reduces the stretch, and I think that is part of why Troy has difficulty pulling the socks over his heel. Unanticipated consequences.)

On the second sock, the stitches got very tight. I wasn't aware of it, but I was pulling the yarn past the "slip 1" too tight and drawing everything in. As I finished the heel flap yesterday, I stopped to take a look and realized it was not going to work. I compared it to the first sock and confirmed that the second one was a lot tighter. Rip, rip, rip went the heel as I sat in my car (aka "private 3-season room") at lunch.

I got the stitches all back onto their various needles and began again with the conscious thought of not pulling on the yarn. It is working much better.

This morning I am dangerously close to finishing the second heel. (And I've used up all the yarn from the frogging. Any time I rip something out, I am driven to knit up all the progress I had to tear out in that same session. Yes, this can lead to some late nights. But when lunch break is over, you kind of have to get back to work so I'm glad to have hit that milestone and my compulsive brain can stop worrying over it!)

Once the heel is done, it's 2x2 ribbing with increases up the leg. This is when I'll be asking myself, "Why oh why did I make them so long??" Ok, honestly I was kind of asking myself that on the first sock already.

Meanwhile back to knitting. I still have a hope of finishing these by our anniversary on September 9. Since I started these on our 12.5 anniversary trip, I feel like this would be a fitting completion date.

These Socks were Made for Traveling

So if you haven't heard from other sources, I should tell you that we just got back from a big trip to Alberta, to the Jasper and Banff National Parks. We went to celebrate our 12-1/2 wedding anniversary. (It's a Dutch thing.) (Yes, it's real.) It was fabulous.

But this is a knitting blog, so I will show you the anniversary socks I started for Troy. Note that I started them on our anniversary trip. Just as celebratory but without the pressure of having to finish them for a particular date! (Tricky, aren't I?)

I've showed you the yarn I bought for Troy's socks before:

I bought it on my road trip to Grand Rapids (Jenison) in December. It's got some alpaca in it, which will hopefully make it "soft" enough for Troy to wear. (He's really not sure he'll be able to wear wool socks. I'm making them anyway, just in case he loves them. That puts me at risk of having to make more, but I'll chance it.)

The wool is sort of a mustard brown, which usually isn't a pleasant colour, but it's a heather with lots of yellow, blue, and red bits in it like heathers are wont to have. Troy is a sucker for heathers. (That's with a small "h.") Yes, by now I know his weaknesses! I didn't realize it at the time, but I have since learned that in the Netherlands, 12-1/2 is the copper anniversary, and I think this wool could be construed to be sort of copper-y in colour. Nice coincidence!

I shopped around for a pattern and even printed one that I brought with me, but after talking to Troy, I decided to do a "plain" ribbed pair. At the first airport wait, I cast on the short row toe and got going:

(All those bags sticking out of my carry on are different projects I brought with me. I didn't work on many of them, but you never know!)

In the first flight I got the toe done:

Next wait at the second airport, and I've started the 2x2 ribbing:

That's my Kindle in the background. A couple months ago I was proclaiming to anyone that would listen that they needed to make a reader that could switch from written text to audio book for knitters. (I can't read and knit and have a good time all at the same time.) Then I discovered Kindle's text-to-voice. It's not the most nuanced reading, but it helps a lot if you skim along the words while it's reading. I'm enjoying it.

On the next flight, I continued up the foot, working in near darkness. The lady next to me was trying to sleep. She was amazed I was allowed to take my knitting on the plane. I ignored her. I only had to turn the light on twice to pick up a dropped stitch.

This plane was equipped to receive satellite TV. I watched the Leaf's game with the off-duty pilot next to me. This picture happened to catch the Leaf's game-tying score. Very exciting. Unfortunately they lost in the shoot-out. The pilot beside me didn't say so, but he was probably happy because despite living in Calgary, he is a Habs fan. He is also a goalie so he winced audibly every time an "easy" goal was scored. He sympathized with the net minders on any team.

The next day, I knit a little more in the car as we were leaving Calgary.

Here's a better one to show what we were driving into:

Gorgeous, right?

Once we actually got into the mountains, I couldn't knit anymore. I was too busy craning my neck and looking through all the windows I could. I love these mountains.

In the evenings, however, I managed to do a little knitting. On Sunday, I made Troy try it on:

This was about the time I was going to start the gusset, and I wanted to check the length.

He happily (and with a little too much surprise in his voice) said, "They fit!" In his defence, the ribbing is a little deceptive because it pulls the sock in when it's not on the foot and makes it look much narrower than it is.

It occurred to me that ribbing is having your cake and eating it too. Because it pulls in, it will fit a narrower foot than the same number of stitches in stocking stitch. But because you move the yarn from front to back between the ribs, you actually use more yarn so there's more stretch and it will fit a bigger foot than the same number of stitches in stocking stitch would fit. Isn't that breaking some law of physics?

At the end of the week, I had him try it on again:

Here I was judging whether I could start the heel yet. Almost there! Troy said they felt very good. I made him do the happy toe dance. It is mandatory when trying on socks-in-progress. (Optional when wearing the completed sock, but sometimes you can't help yourself.)

On the way home, I worked on them in the Calgary airport. Here the heel is finished:

I did some shaping to the sole stitches and then knit up the heel flap, decreasing the gusset stitches on the way. To reinforced the back of the heel, I slipped every other stitch on every row. This pulls the stitches in, as I think you can see here:

Compare the top and bottom portions. The top part
pulls in because only every other stitch is knit. (The
alternating stitches are slipped with the yarn in back.)

On the back side, this results in the yarn making horizontal bars:

Now the slipped stitch portion is on the bottom of
the picture.

This is like an extra layer behind the stitches and helps to make the sock more durable. I think it also gives a little extra cushion there.

I got as far as about an inch done on the leg and haven't worked on it since getting home. (Vacation's over.) I also need to have Troy try it on again to make sure the leg isn't too narrow. Of course, I'll be doing the 2x2 ribbing all the way around so I do have a little leeway...

Ok, one mountain shot, just for fun:

This is in Jasper, taken from one of the main streets. Yup, that could be the view from your living room or office.