Argyle

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Yesterday just got too busy and by the time it calmed down it was too dark to take decent pictures. Let me start off by saying that I did start off knitting the argyle socks using intarsia like all of the internet tutorials told me too. However, since my self-designed pattern used smaller diamonds (and lots of them), it was a little crazy-making:



I'm sure it didn't help that I don't have real bobbins and the little bits of yarn kept sliding out of the cardboard slits and tumbling down onto my lap and subsequently got hopelessly tangled on almost every row. I did manage about 4-5 rows before realizing the intarsia was doomed. The last straw was seeing that my stitches were way too tight. I yanked it out and started over with just my original three balls of yarn, determined to learn this fair isle business. I'm happy to say that it worked:



Here's another picture that's a little less blurry but without the diamonds stretched out:



Knitting this brought me back to what knitting was like when I first started. I could hardly put it down! Now that the argyle part is done - I'm knitting the rest of the sock in just black - I wrapped it around my calf to see if it'll fit... I'm not too sure that it will. My floats must still be a little tight. But if it doesn't fit me, I'm sure I could find someone they will fit.

Now that I've conquered the technique, this sweater (which I'm hopelessly in love with) doesn't scare me so much. It's just the price of the yarn and the tiny gauge that scare me now.

Ah yes...

Friday, April 27, 2007

...the rumors are true: I'm knitting argyle. I have conquered fair isle* and it cannot scare me anymore.

I have had to literally pull myself away from the mesmerizing pattern that's emerging and force myself to bed. (But not before telling you all of my success, of course.)

There will definitely be pictures.


*Yes, I realize argyle is not "true" fair isle and no, by "conquered" I do not mean that my fair isle is perfect or even lovely at this point but I'm doin' it.

IK

Monday, April 23, 2007

Oh boy, if there was ever a reassurance that letting my IK subscription lapse was an okay thing, this is it. Other than the neat spirally socks, that issue can sit on the shelf for all I care.

(This is not to offend anyone who enjoys the patterns in there! Just not my cuppa tea.)

Knitting

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Sometimes I think I'm a better blog friend than blogger... and sometimes I think I'm okay with that. But, don't worry, I'm not going to vanish off the face of the blogging world. I still like to show what I'm knitting and maybe this summer I'll have more time to go on about knitting here. For now though...

Here are the socks I've been working on with my "leftover" Kona Superwash. I say "leftover" because there is no question that I'm going to have enough yarn to finish these and STILL have yarn leftover.




Pretty simple pattern, if you can call it a pattern. Fifty some odd stitches (51 maybe?) with three four stitch cables. I centered one cable on the top of my foot so the other two are sort of on the edge of the heel flap. I think it looks neat.

I started these toe-up originally but they were too tight and I couldn't get a nice heel flap sort of thing going so I frogged and I'm much happier with them now. I think I've been converted to a top-down sock girl. Whoa. I've also already worn the finished one once inadvertantly because I grabbed it and one of my other socks in this yarn. I didn't realize it until a couple of days later when I was looking for the finished one to check something for the one in progress.

I also started and didn't finish a baby sweater in cotton last week. I ended up just purchasing an outfit for the babe. Why do I think cotton is going to change for me and NOT kill my wrists? Because it's on sale? That somehow sale cotton magically loses it's tendonitis charms?

Well, that's all I have for now, I better rush off to class.