A Long-Awaited Finish and a New Start (and Restart)

Once there was a pair of socks...almost. I worked on these last year on our trip to Kentucky. (You may recall this is the project during which I broke a needle on the trip and lost my notes about modifications...twice.)

I did not put the socks in time out--this is not why they waited so long to be finished. I had planned to use them as a sample to demonstrate my invisible cast off (or bind off, if you prefer).

Project Stats
Started: 6 Mar '11
Finished: 16 Jun '12
Pattern: Hourglass by Bev Elicerio (free)
Materials: Apple Laine Apple Pie in Arizona colourway, 2 skeins ($21.67) I've made several socks since then and each time considered using them for a demonstration, but never did. I  finished them and wore them. This morning I finished up my zigzag socks (I'll show them later, don't worry, but I don't have pictures yet) and finishing them just made me think that I couldn't wait any longer to finish these orange socks. I'll make a swatch to demonstrate the cast off method.

Meanwhile I'll enjoy wearing these (well when the weather's a little cooler, perhaps) and the memories they recall of my trip to Ottawa where I bought the yarn.

Straight forward short-row heel.

I'm not too crazy about wearing lacy socks (I don't like the look of the skin showing through) but I'm hoping that they will prevent my feet from overheating in them. Surprise, surprise...wool socks are warm. And, I know, I am a woman of cold feet, but there is such a thing as too warm. (It starts at "hot and sweaty"--no one likes that!)

Also, the colour of the yarn is way too crazy busy to let the pattern show, so it's not a great match of pattern to yarn. But it was the pattern I wanted to use at the time and the yarn is still very pretty.

Now that these are done, I can turn my attention to another pair that I started the other day:

I'm hoping to avoid the "too busy" thing by mixing a variegated with a matching solid.

It looks a little stripey, but there are patches of solid colour as well. I'll keep the pattern simple just in case. Not that I know what I'll be doing. I got as far as the toe plus a few rows but it was too big. Now to decide whether to go down a needle size or cast on fewer stitches?? I'll let you know...

Found!

My socks are found!!

I hadn't stashed them in one of my many bags; I stashed them in one of my many containers.

It will only take me about 30 minutes to finish them (maybe 60 with the additional time it takes to make the video). I hope to get to that soon. Yeah! (They've only been sitting around waiting for weeks and weeks.)

These socks have produced their fair share of drama. Here are my Ravelry notes to summarize:

3/14 Gotta love vacation knitting. I turned the heel of the first sock. Lots of redesigning going on here...

3/22 Did I mention that I broke a needle on vacation last week and this project is now full-on stopped? Grrr. Oh, yeah, and all that redesigning? I left my pattern with all my notes at the restaurant at breakfast. Double grrr.

3/25 Got my new needles and am making progress again. This colourway is definitely too "lively" for the pattern but I'm going to tell myself that I don't mind.

4/1 I tried the Turkish (tubular) cast off for these socks and it completely did not work. The set up rows were way too tight. I improvised a new cast on (at least I don't think I've seen it anywhere else) and it worked great. I separated the stitches onto two needles--knits to the front, purls to the back--and then Kitchenered them together. Looks great; works great. Woo hoo!

4/3 Started second sock

6/7 I would like to finish these as I only need to cast off the second sock. They've been waiting for weeks. I can't find them. :(

6/17 I found them!! Should finish them soon now.

It's the "new" cast off that I hope to record on video and share on my "socks-are-finished" post.

Until then, keep your needles clicking!

P.S. My secret project is moving along nicely which is why I feel I have a little time to bob my head up for air and possibly work on something else like these socks!

Kentucky Check In

Yes, I am in Kentucky and having a good time. Not coincidentally, I'm working on some good driving/vacation knitting!

One project I brought along is socks I'm making with the wool I just got on my Ottawa trip. I'm doing the Hourglass pattern from knitty.com. I tried to get them going before I left (navigating doesn't always leave a lot of room for paying close attention to your knitting) but the first start was way too big. I went down a needle size and it was still too big. So when I restarted in the car, I took out a repeat of the pattern (10 stitches). I maybe should have gone up a needle size at the same time, but didn't think of it. Wool stretches...it looks like it'll be fine.

Once again, red is nearly impossible to photograph, so you'll probably have to squint a little bit at that picture. As feared, the yarn is a little busy for the pattern, but I'm just going to go with it. I really like working with it and the colour is really pretty striking.

By the end of the evening, I had the heel turned and finished. Now I have to work the hourglass pattern all the way around the leg. I'm converting this sock from cuff-down to toe-up, so that is taking a little time as well. (Part of the time is simply recording what I did so I can repeat it on the second sock.) The design is completely reversible top to bottom so it is a pretty easy conversion.

We stayed at the lodge at Natural Bridge State Park last  night. Great views from the rooms. (Great park.)

I also have a new knitting bag I am trying out for this trip. I picked it up at Goodwill a couple weeks ago. The red handles are leather and it's still in good shape. It's also Etienne Aigner. That's some quality stuff!

It has three inside pockets: two on one side that each fit a piece of paper folded in half (perfect for patterns printed on my printer) and a zippered one on the other side for things you don't want floating around the bottom.

It's a nice size as it's not huge yet still holds my sock project and my Super scarf project comfortably. (More on that later.) And since it is a purse, I can easily carry it as a purse and not look like I'm carrying around a knitting bag. So far, it's getting a good grade!

All for now. Time to drive off to the next location!