Ballband Dishcloth

it works fine

Rather than knit another circle cloth, I decided instead to knit a ballband dishcloth - a very similar pattern in terms of construction. The ballband pattern is one of the most popular out there, but until now I'd never had the urge to knit one.

Mine's not perfect. In one row there are two instances where I slipped the stitch with the yarn on the wrong side of the dishcloth - well technically on the RS instead of WS - and at the beginning of one row of yellow bricks I've knit for a few stitches instead of purling. All due to inattention I'm sure.

If it were something more than a stash-busting dishcloth, I'd have ripped it out and restarted but I'm letting it slide this time. After all, it works just fine. Our dishcloths are looking a bit worse for the wear these days so I need to make a couple more this week. And after that, I think I'm "dish-clothed out" for a while!

Sunny Circle Cloth

Sunflower soap from
Cottage North Soapworks

It won't be just socks on the needles this year; turns out there's a great deal of dishcloth cotton in my stash! 1350 grams or so: that's the equivalent of two dozen or more dishcloths. Most of this yarn was picked up deeply discounted at the annual tent sale in Listowel a couple of years ago. Admittedly, I went a bit overboard.

To work through this part of my stash I need to knit a dishcloth every two weeks or so. This shouldn't be a problem though, because dishcloths are pretty much instant gratification ... just a couple of hours of knitting for each. If I plan this right, I should have something to show and tell almost every week on Finished Object Fridays!

To kick off the year I decided to knit this Circle Cloth which I queued some time ago. It's the perfect use for small amounts of yellow cotton leftover from my Serengeti Sun dishcloths. Looks like I'll have just enough yellow to complete two of this pattern; guess I'll make another this aft. Paired with a handmade soap, like this sunflower from Cottage North Soapworks, this wash cloth makes a nice little all occasion gift, doesn't it?

Year of Projects - Whitby 01

swatch fail

Knitting on the Road: Canada • Canal du Midi • Conwy • Dalarna • Denmark • Friday Harbor • Hiiumaa • Huron Mountain • New England • The Road to Oslo • Santa Fe • Spey Valley • Christmas in Tallinn • Traveler's Stockings • Uinta Cabin • Unst • Whitby

Happy New Year! I'm really struggling with the last several patterns in this book, Knitting on the Road - some because they're knit with heavier weight yarns on larger needles than I'd prefer, and some because they're just not my style. But I'm determined to knit every pattern even if I have to modify them to suit the yarn and needles I have on hand.

For the pattern Whitby I like the style; based on fishermen's gansy sweaters with cables and diamond patterns picked out in purl stitches, what's not to like? But 51 stitches on size 2 (2.75mm) needles is not for me. I tried it, knit almost an entire leg and then frogged. That's how it works with me and socks, the leg of the sock is my swatch. It's usually a timesaver.

Now I'm rejigging the pattern to knit 69 stitches on size 0 (2mm) needles using this gorgeous teal coloured Wollmeise sock yarn. I've split the yarn into two balls so that I can knit toe-up and use every inch of this yarn. With 160 grams (about 540 yds) in the skein, these may end up as knee socks! Or even two pairs of socks! We'll have to see as we go along. Maybe by next Sunday I'll have managed to reknit the leg to about the same spot?

finished Heinz 57 socks

the snow is melting :(

Here they are: my Heinz 57 socks made from scraps of five different yarns on size 1 (2.25 mm) needles. Completing the pair took 76 grams of yarn total. Yes, another 76 grams stash-busted! This is my second try for an afterthought heel; this time I picked up extra stitches at each end to prevent holes and I skipped the knit rows between the decrease rows on the last few repeats to round the heel a bit more. Much better!

This morning I inventoried my sock yarn stash to get ready for Surmount the Stash 2012:

• 14 x 100 gram skeins
• 1200 grams of assorted sock yarn scraps

That's enough yarn for about 30-36 pairs of socks. If you had asked me yesterday how much sock yarn I had, I would have guessed about half that amount. Looks like it's true that knitters compulsively underestimate the size of their stashes. In 2011 I made about 26 pairs of socks, so my goal is to knit ALL of this yarn into socks by the end of the calendar year with the majority intended for the Warm Hands Network. Guess I'd better get started, huh?

Yesterday I was also pleasantly surprised by a new book to read on my Kobo Vox eReader. Thanks to my brother's family in Ottawa for their thoughtful gift: Knitting Rules by the Yarn Harlot. Based on the quiz I seem to fall mostly into the "Knitting Scientist" category - a methodical stasher who buys yarn with specific projects in mind, and yes, I travel with a tape measure. Doesn't everyone?

Heinz 57 socks

uh oh, more snow

I've signed up to Surmount the Stash in 2012, and as I inventory my stash I've come to realize that I have a large volume of sock yarn scraps. More scraps, in fact, than full skeins of sock yarn by weight. Many of these scraps are 50-100 yards - not enough to do anything with on their own. Any plan to surmount my stash has to include some ways to use these scraps ... and so the idea of Heinz 57 socks was born.

I've made a good start on the first pair. The cuff, heels and toes are being worked in a solid dark blue. I bought a few balls in a few solid colours of On Your Toes 4ply merino/nylon blend for just this purpose at a store closing sale last summer. The leg and foot of the sock are worked by alternating several rows in four different blue/grey shade yarns - some Kroy jaquarding yarn, some Kroy self-striping yarn, some Regia Design Line yarn and some Regia Extra Twist Merino. By the end of the second sock at least two of these yarns will be completely used up. I've been using Russian joins at colour changes and letting those colour changes happen where they may - usually within a stitch or two on either side of the beginning of the round. Can't stand the idea of finishing with hundreds of ends to weave in!

And yes, that is an RC Helicopter beside my sock. It's a very fun birthday present - thanks Mark - but so far I totally suck at flying it. Thank goodness it's sturdy, having survived a first day of some pretty terrible landings. That's just one of the things I'll be doing this weekend besides knitting: logging practice flight hours.

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Snow?! Need warm socks now!

I've mostly finished my first Coffee Mate sock. It was finished last night, but after trying it on I realized that I needed to pick out the bind off and redo it more loosely. With darkly coloured fuzzy splitty yarn this is turning out to be something of a challenge. Has to be done though!

I'm using a yarn called Katia Darling which is new to me. It's brush plied which I suppose explains the fuzziness and the splittiness. It's also very soft and warm. Other Raveler's have complained that the joins are terrible - sloppy and without regard to the continuity of the colours. I had exactly the same experience with this first ball of wool; I think you can see the abrupt transition from dark to light halfway up the leg? That's annoying. With my big feet I need all the yardage to make the socks the length I want them so I didn't think I should start cutting out sections to reinstate the colour continuity.

The pattern is a simple K2 P2 K4 P2 rib which I'm knitting toe-up with an afterthought heel. This is the first time I've done an afterthought heel, but I've always admired it on other blogs. With a striping yarn the striping pattern gets distorted with other heel constructions so I thought I'd give it a whirl here. I'm happy with the way the colours go but find this heel a bit short and square. There's probably more than one way to work an afterthought heel - I'll have to do some investigating - but this will do for now.

Now back to that bind off. I'd like to get that sorted out before I head to work this morning. Lots more to see at Tami's Amis!

Coffee Mates

warm and fuzzy

For the last couple of years Gavin and I have agreed to forgo Christmas shopping for each other, instead buying one big item for both of us. Last year we bought Apple TV. This year we bought a Keurig Coffeemaker. And we love it. Especially since we also bought the optional "My K-Cup" accessory which allows us to use our own ground coffee. So easy, so quick and such nice coffee!

In honour of our new coffee protocol I'm naming this latest pair of socks "Coffee Mates". The yarn is Katia Darling in a colourway that runs from a light double-cream double-sugar coffee colour to a very dark rich expresso colour. It's "brush-plied" - very warm, very fuzzy and very splitty. Simple seems best so I'm knitting toe-up in a simple ribbed pattern with afterthought heels. If I've done my math correctly they should fit me perfectly!

It's Boxing Day here in Canada but I don't plan to spend a minute of my time fighting through the crowds to shop for Boxing Day bargains. A little knitting, a little sewing, a couple loads of laundry and a bit of cooking: that's my schedule for today.