Mum's Happy Socks ~ I got the perfect yarn for my mum for Christmas. these socks got knitted, for the most part, while I was working/travelling in Westminster Mass at the end of last year. the pattern was very easy, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Mum says that they fit well, she would have preferred a sock that we further up her leg. (unlike DD and myself who prefer a short sock, which is what I based hers on .... oh well, next time)
Irish Hiking Arm Warmers ~ they got done in time, but never made it to becoming a Christmas pressie .. but DD took a liking to them, so they are current being worn with love :)
Dad's Gentleman Socks ~ this was going to be a tough one. I had no idea how big to make these socks (or if he'd even like & wear them) .... not to mention I decided to try some new techniques at the same time. NOT a good thing to do when you have a deadline!!! I used 2 lovely contrasting yarns, in browns, that I got from the Heel & Toe sock club ... perfect for a man's sock. after going thru all my patterns, I decided to do the gentleman sock .... it was an easy knit the last time, and looks great. OMG .... but this time, the socks were WAY bigger, and I was using a thinner yarn with smaller needles!!! these socks got done CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON .... and actually delayed us getting to my parents for Christmas dinner!!! from the pictures my Mum took, they look a wee bit big in the foot ... but they'll be a nice "house sock" during the cold winter.
DD's Eclipse Socks ~ well these got started before Christmas ... but were put on hold so that I could get my Dad's socks done for Christmas Day. these socks were also a nightmare of mine !! in theory, they should have been easy ... using the same heel/toe/cuff technique as my dad's sock did help make the basic sock knitting VERY easy. these socks were re-started at least 3 times ... the problem was trying to get the red "ribbon" knit into the one sock, and having it look good. working with multiple colours, in the round, but not carrying the extra colour all the time, just wasn't working ... and for some reason, I just couldn't wrap my head around how to get it to look nice. so an executive decision was made ... from them AGAIN, and knit them plain (with the intent of double stitching the ribbon on afterwards ... and per the pattern's suggestion). knitting plain socks is SO FAST AND EASY (especially after struggling thru getting my Dad's done). so now, the socks are done and they fit DD ..... now it should be an easy task to duplicate stitch the red ribbon on the one sock ..... NOT !!!! OH MY GOSH ..... for some reason, no matter what I tried, it looked like crap. the good news is my daughter got a nice pair of red & black sock ... the bad news, no ribbon (this time anyway .... I think I've figured out how to do intarsia knitting in the round ..... so who knows when I'll try this one again)
DD's cable make-up socks ~ it seems like I'm destined to disappoint my daughter with the socks that she'd like to have. she spotted my first WEBs order, and called the yarn right away .... then she went on-line and found the sock pattern that she wanted. these socks just didn't work ..... no, that's not right ... they looked lovely, but she could just BARELY get her foot into them, and they were such an intricate cabled pattern that I just didn't have the heart to frog them out and start over .... so they were thrown in my basket, with the intent of giving them to someone smaller. DD understood, but I think she was disappointed .... here enters the make-up socks. I have enough of the WEBs yarn that she like to make her another pair of socks ... ones with cables, but not so intricate. I took a pattern on Ravelry, and added my own twist (based on some of the things from the original pattern she wanted). they are not as "fancy" as the original ones she wanted ..... but I hope she was pleased when I surprised her with them.
2nd "kick at the can" machine knit sock ~ well .... project from HeII had slowed down, and I found I was having some time to myself again .... so it was a good opportunity to get the knitting machine back together, and see if I remembered what I learned back in November. now .. the sock took me WAY longer than it was supposed to, and I did a brutal job of hand sewing the seam .... BUT .... I did it, and it fit !!!! (and as long as you look at the non-seamed side ..... it turned out pretty good!) now my test is going to be to try to knit with multiple colours so that I can eventually start knitting the dancers argyle socks!!
time for a pair of sock for me ~ one our SKETCHY group was de-stashing, and I picked up a couple of her brighter yarns. it's called "lagoon", which perfectly describes the colours. I wanted a bright, colourful pair of socks ... and it was my turn!! now the question ..... what pattern would best show off this vibrant yarn??!! NOTHING .... couldn't find anything that grabbed me, and went with the yarn. if all else fails .... go thru old lace books, and FAKE IT !!! so that's what I did. after finishing them, I went to add them to Ravelry, and found that my basic pattern was not completely original ..... but then again, not exactly like what was already there (but they did already have the names I wanted) ..... so even though they are a basic toe-up, short row heel, "arrow lace" pattern sock ... I'm calling them "tropical wave". thanks for the de-stashing Kirsty !!Sketchy Knitters ~ well .... it's nice to be able to get back to the group again. I've been able to attend our last 3 gatherings .... hope they don't get spoiled seeing me back like this again !! last year, we talked, off and on, about doing some charity work .... well, talk is cheap, and we never got ourselves together to decided what where were going to do, and for whom. I was surfing thru something, probably on Ravelry, and found the 2009 Afghan. each month a new square's pattern will be revealed, and at the end of the year VOILA. well I have enough acrylique in my stash do do an afghan like this from 2009 until eternity. but what's more fun than doing something like this yourself .... it's to suck your friends into the vortex as well (misery loves company). so I put the idea out to the ladies, and they all though it was great. we've had more fun, comparing gauge and (EEK) colour choices. it's not decided if or when these squares will become a blanket .... but with the group of us working on a square a month, we'll have some great charity pieces by the end !! it's the best stash busting idea ever !!!
CHHA Golf Tournament ~ ASL Afghan
my Mum is the secretary CHHA-Hamilton (Canadian Heard of Hearing, Hamilton Branch). they've decided to put together a golf tournament as a fundraiser. fundraising can be a very difficult things to do, especially in this economy .... so I thought maybe I could help out. I've decided to knit an afghan that they can raffle off ..... but not just any pattern, it should be related .... so I'm doing the alphabet in ASL (American Sign Language), and making it a patchwork style. unfortunately there are only 26 letters, so I'm adding the "deaf" symbol to each of the 4 corners. ok, so now I've got the design figured out .... then came the difficult decision of colour. fortunately this is where DD comes into the project .... off we go to Michaels to look at some reasonable acrylique yarn that I spotted. the pattern will have 5 squares across, and 6 squares down .... we we chose 6 beautiful colours, that will be rotated thru the afghan pattern.
ok ... have the pattern, have the yarn .... now begin to knit. started with square 1, colour 1 .... following the pattern get the square done ...... nope, looks like crap. cant see the "deaf" symbol in the square at all. I'm NOT impressed !!! after some consideration, it got frogged out, and an adapted version is knitted up. this one is better, but I'm still not sure. on to squares "A" and "B" .... they look "ok", but I'm still not convinced you can see the ASL symbols for each letter. I tack the 3 squares together, and with the help of DD we kind of block/stretch them and take a look .... THAT'S BETTER. once they are blocked and stretched, I think the symbols will show better. they don't really stand out as well as I was hoping, but I think it will look nice when done.
OH ... and speaking of done .... one of the reasons I was able to convince myself to do a patchwork style afghan is because Wendi has graciously offered to sew all the squares together for me, because she knows how much I hate doing it. THANKS Wendi !!!!
SOCK WARS IV ~ registration has started, and the battle begins May 15. I had a love/hate relationship with Sock Wars III last year .... it was not my favourite pattern to knit, and there were some issues with "flakes" ... but I "met" (killed or was killed by) some really nice people, and isn't that what it' all about. SO, what the heck ... LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE (or rather ... let's get ready to knit !!). Wendi is going to join me this time, and I'm hoping to get some of our Sketch group into it as well. ToFutsies is the sponsor again, and they have a new PowerStripe yarn that is going to be the recommended weapon of death this year. unfortunately, we weren't able to find it locally, so Wendi contacted Danielle at Spun and she's ordered it in for us ***WOO HOO***. Wendi got an e-mail this morning, and it's arrived already ..... I cant wait to go see it in person!! thanks Danielle !!
