Year of Projects 8 - Week 09

After ripping back and restarting the heel of the second Venetian Blinds sock, I got on a roll and finished the pair. I was able to squeak out an opposite but matching sock two with a scant few yards remaining. Although my plan involved knitting toe up so that I could weigh my starting yarn and calculate exactly where to bind off in order to maximize efficiency, that plan was derailed when I forgot to weigh the yarn at the very beginning. Luck was with me though; i wouldn't have done much better by calculation!

They are lovely finished socks, despite all those ends to weave in! A fellow Raveller remarked about the colour combo looking "beach" which I can totally see. Both are muted shades but there's still enough contrast for the graduated stripes to pop out. The Shelridge 80/20 Merino yarn is quite smooth and nicely twisted so the stitch definition is very good.

So that's my Paper Bag Project for August complete. And that's me caught up in that group too. By this time next week I'll have selected my September bag and made a plan for that. I'm tempted to cheat and make sure it's that unknown red yarn as that would suit a test knit I've signed up for. I wouldn't even have to look since the remaining bags are so differently shaped that it's not too hard to guess what's inside. The fullest bag has 4 balls of Lang Jawoll Superwash. The emptiest bag has 2 balls of CoBaSi. The flattest bag has an uncaked skein of Songbird Fibers. Yeah, I think I'm gonna select the red yarn... and now it seems almost silly to wait until August 31st but rules are rules.

With nothing left on my needles, I went ahead and cast on Nain. The plan here is to use 90-95 grams of the remaining 160 grams of Dye-Version Stretch Bamboo Sock yarn from my stash, leaving myself enough scraps to knit some very colourful ankle socks to finish it all up. I've cast on the medium size (72 sts) and am working the leg on 2.5 mm needles. Based on the suggestions in the pattern and after reviewing other projects on Ravelry, I opted for a larger needle size than my usual for the leg. This pattern definitely bunches up and the fabric is somewhat contorted, so I think the larger needles are needed for ease. Even so, the leg looks quite small and the pattern is proving to be very yarn-hungry. That's okay - these are intended for a thin-legged, tiny-footed friend. Maybe by next week I'll have a completed sock for her to try?

2018 Paper Bag Project - September, October, November and December

      Twisted Flower Socks - using Hikoo CoBaSi yarn in Egyptian Blue
      Feny Socks - using Lang Jawoll Superwash in turquoise and chocolate
      Pattern TBD - using unknown variegated red yarn
      Diamondback Socks - using Songbird Fibers Sock in Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Full Skeins from stash

      Somewhere Socks - using Mountain Colour mini set
      Pairfect Socks - using Regia Pairfect
      Mood - using unknown variegated blue yarn
      Kazak - using unknown tonal purple yarn
      Harris Tweed Socks - using Wollemeise self-striping green/gold/red yarn

Large (more than 50 grams) and Small (less than 50 grams) scraps from stash

      Salor - in various tan, orange and brown small scraps
      Vanilla Bean Striped Socks - in various colourful small scraps
      Squircle Socks  -  in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Escape Reality Socks - in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Bill Huggins - in various scraps
      Mosaic Marbles socks - using Langwoll Magic Dégradé scraps with black (or white)
      Checkbox Socks - using large scraps
      Stash Buster Spiral Socks - using various scraps in green?
      Hearty Stripey Socks - using various scraps
      Double Heelix Socks - using leftovers from Feny Socks
      Nain - using large scraps of Stretch Bamboo in light blue
      Jelly Rolls - using all the leftover Stretch Bamboo in various colours

Year of Projects 8 - Week 08

... sock two should be easy enough with sock one under my belt

Yeah, I said that last week, as if to jinx myself. I was making good progress on my second Venetian Blinds sock until I looked more closely at the heel cap and noticed that I was one stitch off across the left side resulting in an eye of partridge look rather than slipstitch rib look. I tried tinking back but it was so many rows back that it was just painful. So I tried to drop back on just those stitches without much luck. Next I tried to just rip back to the error, but I wasn't able to cleanly pick up and re-wrap the short row wraps. Splitty yarn, remember? That sock was then thrown into a corner while I tried to convince myself that I could live with some untidiness at the heel.

Nope. I cannot live with untidiness at the heel. This morning I ripped all the way back to the gusset and started again.

Honestly, I didn't have a very successful day yesterday.

A few weeks ago at the local farmer's market I saw a woman selling Microwave Bowl Pot Holders. When I cook, I usually cook in quantities and then we microwave leftovers for days. And when we microwave the Corelle dishes even for a minute or two those dishes are crazy hot. We usually have to put a cold plate from the cupboard under our bowls to keep from burning ourselves. Microwave Bowl Pot Holders? That seems like a good idea to me.

I could make those, I said to myself. I have a sewing machine and enough scraps of fabric to throw a couple together. After all, the instructions do say they are "easy to make".

I'll give my results a C-. They get a C because they are complete and functional. Also, I learned something that saved me from hacking apart my sewing machine with an axe - jammed bobbins are usually result from trouble in the upper threading of the machine. I can't tell you how much time I lost opening the bobbin area, cleaning everything out, dusting, meticulously rethreading the bobbin, only to finally google it, rethread the upper section and have the problem solved.

To be fair I am not an experienced sewer. I had hoped that some of my knitting skills would be transferrable... I was more careful in measuring, marking and pinning than I used to be. I am more circumspect in following instructions rather than winging it the way I used to. And I am more inclined to rip out a seam I'm not happy with to do it again.

On the other hand, my seams are not very straight. My thread tension needs adjustment since my stitches aren't perfectly smooth. My corners don't line up perfectly. And my top-stitching looks drunken.

All in all, the project took me more than two hours and ended up quite frustrating, so buying them at the market might have been the better solution. Let's chalk this up as a good practice at my sewing machine. I really need to take some lessons and get a firm grounding.

I also made Salsa Verde. From Friday am to Saturday noon we had over 120mm of rain, with one particularly violent storm accompanied by heavy pounding rain that shredded my tomatillo plant. Rather than let the not-quite-ripe fruit go to waste, I decided to collect up all the fallen fruit to make a batch of Salsa Verde. It's not very good. Honestly it tastes more like cucumber relish than salsa. I didn't have enough tomatillos and they weren't ripe. I didn't have any jalapeños so I substituted with cherry bomb peppers. I didn't have any fresh cilantro so I substituted with those freezer cubes. There's no sugar at all in it, but it tastes sweet with a slightly hot aftertaste. Oh well. I like cucumber relish so I'll use up the three small bottles I made. Maybe it will be nice mixed with regular store-bought salsa?

I did enjoy at least one success last week. I successfully scrubbed an upholstered chair that had been horribly stained with cat sick. Spot cleaning had failed and the chair looked appalling, so nothing ventured, nothing gained... I mixed a pail of dilute carpet cleaner, pulled on some rubber gloves and scrubbed from top to bottom. It looks like new!

And Gavin made this gorgeous Tic Tac Toe game with a small piece of live edge Black Olive Wood that I had impulsively purchased at a reclaimed wood shop's open house. We've finished it with Tung Oil - sealing and hopefully preserving the live edge - and affixed a cork mat to the bottom. It looks really nice! A few more projects are in progress with the remaining wood. so I'm glad we've put it to use.

The plan for this week is the same as last week: finish the Venetian Blinds Socks and start Nain.

2018 Paper Bag Project - August, September, October, November and December

      Twisted Flower Socks - using Hikoo CoBaSi yarn in Egyptian Blue
      Feny Socks - using Lang Jawoll Superwash in turquoise and chocolate
      Pattern TBD - using unknown variegated red yarn
      Diamondback Socks - using Songbird Fibers Sock in Ruby Throated Hummingbird
      Venetian Blinds Socks - using Shelridge Yarns 80/20 Merino in Mint and Linen

Full Skeins from stash

      Somewhere Socks - using Mountain Colour mini set
      Pairfect Socks - using Regia Pairfect
      Mood - using unknown variegated blue yarn
      Kazak - using unknown tonal purple yarn
      Harris Tweed Socks - using Wollemeise self-striping green/gold/red yarn

Large (more than 50 grams) and Small (less than 50 grams) scraps from stash

      Salor - in various tan, orange and brown small scraps
      Vanilla Bean Striped Socks - in various colourful small scraps
      Squircle Socks  -  in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Escape Reality Socks - in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Bill Huggins - in various scraps
      Mosaic Marbles socks - using Langwoll Magic Dégradé scraps with black (or white)
      Checkbox Socks - using large scraps
      Stash Buster Spiral Socks - using various scraps in green?
      Hearty Stripey Socks - using various scraps
      Double Heelix Socks - using leftovers from Feny Socks
      Nain - using large scraps of Stretch Bamboo in light blue
      Jelly Rolls - using all the leftover Stretch Bamboo in various colours

Year of Projects 8: Week 07

I'm having a love/hate relationship with the Venetian Blinds pattern....

I had a rocky start, first with the "Magical" cast on for toe-up socks on DPNs. It's just so fiddly. I find a Turkish cast on easier and tidier. So I tried it as written, got annoyed and ripped back to restart.

Next up were the toe increases which are written as lifted increases. Again, I found this very fiddly especially in my first few rounds with somewhat splitty yarn, so I tried it as written, got annoyed and ripped back to redo them as M1s.

On the other hand the gusset, the heel "cap" and the heel are fun as written and quite different than anything I've done before. I was also very relieved to find them all charted, because at 16 pages long the pattern is kind of tiring. The heel architecture is inspired by Cat Bordhi from her "New Pathways for Sock Knitters". I HAVE this book and haven't knit a single thing from it, so I'd better start thinking about that too.

A 16 page sock pattern?!?!? Yeah, it caters to beginners with lots of tips and tutorials but my goodness there's a lot to wade through just to get at the actual pattern. And even when you find the pattern, the instructions for different sizes are written out in separate boxes rather than standard form of indicating sizes by parentheses.  If it were up to me the instructions would be much simplified and abbreviated; the rest would be shifted into an optional "tips, tutorials and tricks" download.

Ah well, I'm more than half way through sock one, and sock two should be easy enough with sock one under my belt. Aside from the gusset and heel it's a pretty vanilla pattern which knits up pretty quickly. Seems to me that I may just be able to finish this August project within the targeted calendar month! Even better if I manage them a bit quicker, because Nain awaits!

2018 Paper Bag Project - August, September, October, November and December

      Twisted Flower Socks - using Hikoo CoBaSi yarn in Egyptian Blue
      Feny Socks - using Lang Jawoll Superwash in turquoise and chocolate
      Pattern TBD - using unknown variegated red yarn
      Diamondback Socks - using Songbird Fibers Sock in Ruby Throated Hummingbird
      Venetian Blinds Socks - using Shelridge Yarns 80/20 Merino in Mint and Linen

Full Skeins from stash

      Somewhere Socks - using Mountain Colour mini set
      Pairfect Socks - using Regia Pairfect
      Mood - using unknown variegated blue yarn
      Kazak - using unknown tonal purple yarn
      Harris Tweed Socks - using Wollemeise self-striping green/gold/red yarn

Large (more than 50 grams) and Small (less than 50 grams) scraps from stash

      Salor - in various tan, orange and brown small scraps
      Vanilla Bean Striped Socks - in various colourful small scraps
      Squircle Socks  -  in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Escape Reality Socks - in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Bill Huggins - in various scraps
      Mosaic Marbles socks - using Langwoll Magic Dégradé scraps with black (or white)
      Checkbox Socks - using large scraps
      Stash Buster Spiral Socks - using various scraps in green?
      Hearty Stripey Socks - using various scraps
      Double Heelix Socks - using leftovers from Feny Socks
      Nain - using large scraps of Stretch Bamboo in light blue
      Jelly Rolls - using all the leftover Stretch Bamboo in various colours

Year of Projects 8 - Week 06

I'm very late in posting today. What can I say; the day got away from me! Maybe because it's a holiday weekend here in Ontario, I'm all off schedule?

My knitting, on the other hand, is right on schedule! I finished my July Paper Bag Project: Gladys in Painted Fleece Merino/Silk/Cashmere. It's a very nice looking sock but all that seed stitch is a slog. Seriously, I had to really push myself to finish it.

The only thing that got me through was the urge to cast on the next pair of socks. On Wednesday I opened a new Paper Bag for August to discover two 50 gram skeins of Shelridge Yarns 80/20 Merino. SURPRISE. That wasn't on the list; I didn't even remember them! Of course it makes sense in retrospect that there couldn't be one bag with Lang Jawoll Superwash and a second with leftovers of the same! Where's my brain?! I amended my lists below.

But what pattern to knit? Colourwork for sure. And opposite socks to use it all up. Toe-up would help too! Time to dive into an advanced pattern search in Ravelry. And there it is... Venetian Blinds socks. All the boxes checked! I'll cast those on tomorrow.

As well, I've been pondering what to do about 150 grams or so of Stretch Bamboo leftovers, and I think I have a plan. The lion share of that is a similar shade of blue (90 grams or so) so I'll use that to knit Nain in the smallest size written. Seems to me that pattern would benefit from stretchy yarn. And then I'll use up the leftovers knitting ankle socks - Jelly Rolls, maybe? BUST ALL THE STASH!

So yeah, I finished a pair of socks and despite that my lists got longer. SIGH.


2018 Paper Bag Project - August, September, October, November and December

      Twisted Flower Socks - using Hikoo CoBaSi yarn in Egyptian Blue
      Feny Socks - using Lang Jawoll Superwash in turquoise and chocolate
      Pattern TBD - using unknown variegated red yarn
      Diamondback Socks - using Songbird Fibers Sock in Ruby Throated Hummingbird
      Venetian Blinds Socks - using Shelridge Yarns 80/20 Merino in Mint and Linen

Full Skeins from stash

      Somewhere Socks - using Mountain Colour mini set
      Pairfect Socks - using Regia Pairfect
      Mood - using unknown variegated blue yarn
      Kazak - using unknown tonal purple yarn
      Harris Tweed Socks - using Wollemeise self-striping green/gold/red yarn

Large (more than 50 grams) and Small (less than 50 grams) scraps from stash

      Salor - in various tan, orange and brown small scraps
      Vanilla Bean Striped Socks - in various colourful small scraps
      Squircle Socks  -  in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Escape Reality Socks - in various colourful scraps plus something neutral from large scraps
      Bill Huggins - in various scraps
      Mosaic Marbles socks - using Langwoll Magic Dégradé scraps with black (or white)
      Checkbox Socks - using large scraps
      Stash Buster Spiral Socks - using various scraps in green?
      Hearty Stripey Socks - using various scraps
      Double Heelix Socks - using leftovers from Feny Socks
      Nain - using large scraps of Stretch Bamboo in light blue
      Jelly Rolls - using all the leftover Stretch Bamboo in various colours