FO: No Purl Monkeys

Pattern: No Purl Monkeys by Crafty Pancakes ... based on Monkey Socks from Cookie. A

Yarn: Top Cat from Wandering Cat Yarns in a colourway called "Mermaid's Delight"

Needles: size 1 (2.25 mm)

Modifications: I knit the large size from Knit.Sock.Love., knitting the purls as suggested by Crafty Pancakes. I added one repeat to each leg to make them longer, although now that they're done it might have been too much. I narrowed the foot by continuing the gusset decreases to 16 sts on each needle for the bottom of the foot. I should have decreased at the top of the heel too.

Comments: The finished socks are a bit big. In my pictures the socks are still damp from blocking so I'm hoping a couple of times through the washer and dryer will snug them up a bit. I don't know what it is with me and big socks these days ... I almost ran out of yarn on this pair as well but snuck through with about 2 grams leftover!

The pattern is lovely and shows the yarn beautifully, but if I do them again I think I'll go back to the original version of the pattern from Cookie A., purl stitches and all. It gives a stretchier fabric I think.

I finished another project this week - some secret Christmas knitting and yes, I do know it's the end of February. No pictures yet because it's a secret. What I can tell you is that the project involved colourwork and the dark colour RAN during blocking. BADLY. I am so annoyed about this. I've soaked, resoaked and soaked again, but the light colour remains badly discoloured by the dark colour. I've drafted several versions in my head of the complaint letter I will be sending to the Loopy Ewe about their Loopy Solids Series ... but I'd better wait until I'm calm enough to write it without curse words.

It's Finished Object Friday and I'm linking up with Tami's Amis. Presumably someone had a more successful week than I did. Unless everyone's stuck in the February blahs?

Year of Projects: Child's French Socks

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

Hurray! The second skein of yarn arrived in Friday's mail and it's a perfect match for the first. You can't even see where I've joined it on each sock.

It feels like I've been knitting these socks forever, and that's not far from the truth. Just a couple of weeks ago I screwed up the cuff of the second sock not once but twice. Last week I ripped back and reknit both socks once thinking that if I shortened the foot by one repeat I could squeak through with the yarn I had. And then last night I ripped back again, added that last repeat back in and reknit the toes. It's a testament to this yarn how well it stood up to all the ripping and reknitting!

What's next for my Year of Projects? A scrappy pair of socks, I think. In one of the introductory chapters of Knitting Vintage Socks, designer Nancy Bush offers four variations of ribbed socks. Sounds like the perfect way to knit through some scraps! More on that next week!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

My squares for SIBOL are done, my French Socks are awaiting a second skein of yarn so that I can finish them, and my Lace Ribbon Scarf awaits my attention at work .... I HAD TO cast on another pair of socks, didn't I?

Taking a cue from Tangled Up In Sticks and String I decided on No Purl Monkeys. After all, Dee knows sock knitting. I'm knitting the large size from Knit. Sock. Love. because I don't find that this pattern has much stretch. They look too big on the needles, but they look okay when I try them on. I just hope I'm not left with baggy ankles!

The yarn is Top Cat from Wandering Cat Yarns in a colourway called Mermaid's Delight. With 10% cashmere it's lovely to work with and the colourway IS delightful. It's refreshing to have a variegated yarn that behaves nicely - no pooling or misbehaving so far. There are blues, purples and greens in there, but none overwhelms the others. Well done Rhonda and Valerie!

It's Wednesday ... work-in-progress Wednesday ... so go on and have a look at the wonderful things through the links at Tami's Amis. You know you want to!

while I wait for sock yarn ...

 .... I decided to crochet some squares for SIBOL. Have you heard of SIBOL? It's an acronym for Sunshine International Blankets of Love. Sue (Mrs. Twins) in the UK is the organizer. Every year a list of blanket challenges is drawn up and posted, and crocheters around the world are invited to donate a square or two. Here's more in Sue's own words:

In January 2010 I thought I would like to make Blankets for the Elderly. My own Grandmother lived to the wonderful age of 103 and I thought I would like to do something in her Memory. My Grandmother was very fortunate she was in good health and lived very independently on her own cooking and cleaning for herself. She also had lots of visitors, family and friends throughout the day. I realise there are lots of people who aren’t so lucky. They are often in Nursing Homes and very often sit for hours not having visitors. Family are very busy these days they often lead very busy lives and time for them is limited. It is to these people our ‘Sunshine Blankets’ are aimed at. Let’s hope the gift of a hand-made ‘Sunshine Blanket’ will bring love and warmth and also a smile to their faces knowing that someone has been thinking of them.

When I look at the challenge list I look primarily for those challenges where a specific pattern is recommended. For many challenges participants are asked to design their own squares but my skills aren't up to that. The first one that caught my eye was #8 Butterfly Challenge. I checked out the linked pattern suggestions, decided on this Stained Glass Butterfly Square and worked up three with the colours I had available in my stash. That's every last inch of orange used up.

What's left? A lot of white, a ball of black, a fair bit of yellow, purple and green and some oddments of mustard, light blue and gold. With the yellow, mustard and white, I decided to go ahead and make a few squares for Challenge #7. The Daffodil Square pattern looked difficult, but it's easier than it looks and really well explained with photos. They're really cute aren't they? And look how amazing a Daffodil Square blanket looks assembled. With three Daffodil Squares done that's every inch of mustard and about half the yellow used up.

Now I'm trying to decide whether to stop at that or do more. The thing is that it's likely to be cheapest if I collect up all my squares to post to the UK in one package. Hmm, maybe I have another Daffodil Square or two in me before I get back to the regularly scheduled knitting!

Year of Project 2: French Socks

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

CRAP ... I ran out of yarn. I thought I'd just make it, but I ran short before finishing sock two. No problem, I thought, I'll just rip out the toe and the last pattern repeat on sock one, refinish sock one, and then finish sock two with the salvaged yarn. NOPE ... short again! Just because I added to the primary stitch count, lengthened the leg, lengthened the heel flap, increased the gusset and knit a size 11 foot, completely ignoring the warnings from other Ravelers that this pattern "eats yarn" ... maybe I was asking for it?!

I wasn't thrilled with shortening the socks by one repeat; I'm definitely not prepared to shorten them any further. Gavin's helpful suggestion that I knit the toes in a contrasting colour is not being considered. A second skein of the yarn has been ordered and these socks are on hold until it arrives. One lucky thing is that the yarn was a recent acquisition so the second skein from the same dyelot was still available. When the yarn arrives I'm going to rip back both socks to add back that last repeat and then reknit the toes. FRUSTRATING.

While I wait for the yarn I've started a couple of new things ... a pair of socks for UndergoundCrafter and some squares for SIBOL. You'll hear more about those in the next few days.  Let's see if I can manage some finishes without any more drama.

Surmount the Stash February update

Looking back, I had a productive January but with a half done scarf, some unfinished Christmas knitting and a second sock still on the needles, I didn't finish as much as I'd hoped. Blame it on the Bootie pattern. For the last couple of weeks I've been completely sidetracked with them. I did finish my Ringwood socks and fingerless gloves for Gavin. Not to mention half a dozen pairs of Baby Moc-A-Socs.

It's not just the cuteness that's got me obsessed; it's the perfect pattern for using up baby yarn and sock yarn scraps. With six pairs done and two more pairs awaiting cuffs, I can happily announce that I've knit through every last inch of superwash wool baby yarn. Now THAT feels like progress.

Which leads me to my goals for February:
 • finish the booties, finish the scarf, finish my Christmas knitting and finish my French sock
 • knit at least two pairs of socks, including at least one from scraps
 • knit a couple of baby hats to use up every last bit of acrylic baby yarn
 • weave something from cotton
 • make a square or two from acrylic worsted scraps for SIBOL

Year of Projects 2: French Socks

Folk Knitting in Estonia: Aino's Gloves • Anu's Christmas Gloves • Anu's Mittens • Anu's Stockings • Avo's Mittens • Ellen's Stockings • Helgi's Mittens • Hilja's Mittens • Ilmar's Socks • Juta's Stockings • Kalev's Mittens • Kristi's Mittens • Laila's Socks • Landra's Gloves • Liidia's Gloves • Liivi's Stockings • Maarja's Socks • Maimu's Mittens • Marko's Mittens • Meida's Mittens • Merike's Gloves • Rita's Stockings • Sander's Mittens • Tiit's Socks • Ulla's Gloves • Virve's Stockings

Knitting Vintage Socks: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern (1887) • Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch (1889) • Gentleman's Socks with Lozenge Pattern (1895) • Bed Sock in Lemon Pattern Fancy Knit Stripe (1896) • Cycling or Golf Stockings with Fancy Cuff in Trellis Pattern (1897) • Heelless Sleeping Socks (1897) • Child's French Sock in Citron Pattern and Diaper Knitting (1898) • Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern (1899) • Gentleman's Sock for Evening Wear (1900) • Evening Stockings for a Young Lady (1900) • Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 Years (1900) • Gentleman's Fancy Sock (1901) • Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel (1901) • Child's Sock in Miranda Pattern (1904) • Baby's Bootikin (1905)  •  Little Child's Sock (1907)  •  Ladies Useful Stockings (1913)  •  Ladies Silk Stockings with Clocks (1914)

Maybe you noticed that I haven't had much to say lately about the socks that I've been working on? There's a reason for that. I've screwed up the second sock, not once but TWICE. The first time I had finished the twenty rounds of cuff and was just preparing to do the increase round that begins the leg when I noticed a problem in round three - blame it on dark yarn and bad light. RIP! The second time it was exactly the same spot - just as I was reading the directions for the increase round I realized that I had K2P3 instead of K2P2 for the rib sections that transition into the shell pattern. RIP! After the first screw up I was annoyed at myself and put the project aside for a few days. After the second screw up I was so annoyed that I decided to start over and keep knitting until I had knit all the way back to that increase round. And now finally, the second sock is well under way.

As of now I've completed six of the eleven pattern repeats before the heel. And barring any more screw ups this pair of socks will DEFINITELY be completed in the next few days. It just has to be! After all I have start-itis in the worst way and I'm not sure how much longer I can control myself before casting on another pair of socks.