a new technique

Last night I cast on Spey Valley, but when I messed up my first attempt at a Vikkel braid I put my knitting aside after ripping out and knitting back to the row before. This morning, with better light and a clear head, I tried again. Success! Look how cool that is - the stitches form a lateral braid that rings the sock.

Nancy Bush says that vikkel is an Estonian word used to describe knitting patterns made with stitches that cross over each other as a result of knitting the stitches out of order. It's a bit time consuming, but well worth the time spent for this very attractive result. And I suspect the sturdy, non-splitty nature of this Wollmeise yarn is making the crossing of these tiny stitches easier than it might otherwise be.

Since the beginning of July of last year I've been knitting the patterns in Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road as part of my Year of Projects. In the Ravelry group of the same name the moderators are gauging interest in a second Year of Projects. My first instinct was opposed - I think I'm starting to feel somewhat "socked-out" - but after starting these socks I'm reconsidering. Maybe next year I should look at Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting In Estonia? It's a nice mix of socks, gloves and mitts with all sorts of interesting stitch patterns and colourwork charts!

Year of Projects - Whitby

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

It's early Sunday evening and I feel all caught up. Isn't that a nice feeling? The laundry's done. The week's groceries are in the cupboards and the fridge. And a loaf of freshly baked bread is cooling on the counter. That's my weekend chores all done.

I'm feeling caught up on the crafting front as well. My chemo hats were posted to Halos of Hope. My wiggles square was mailed to SIBOL. Four pairs of socks from stashed oddments of Kroy yarn are on their way to the Warm Hands Network. And these Whitby socks from my Year of Projects list are done. Lots completed.

Whitby is a lovely pattern and these are gorgeous socks. How could they not be? After all they are knit from my first ever skein of Wollmeise! Besides they fit me perfectly. I plan to wear them tomorrow. I modified the pattern adding stitches to the ribbing on the back of the leg and the charts on the front of the sock to bring me to 69 stitches with finer yarn and smaller needles than called for by the designer.

In the book I've chosen for my Year of Projects, Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, there are seventeen sock patterns. Now, nearing the end of the seventh month, I've knit nine of the patterns. Or put another way, after 58% of the allotted time I've completed 53% of my list. Not bad considering how little time and attention I gave to this challenge through November and December! But what to do next? I'm casting on Spey Valley socks tonight. I've got one more skein of Wollmeise in the perfect shade of grey for Gavin and the pattern is suitably masculine.

Finished Object Friday

This cute little square is a "Wiggles Square" designed by DebI Y, pattern found here. I made this from scraps of worsted weight yarn for a SIBOL challenge. With this pattern, the square is crocheted and then the wiggles are added after by crocheting around the stems of DC in the background block. It's very cute and very easy!

I'm very impressed with how Mrs. Twins organizes her challenges, especially her rule about limits to how many squares! I've seen it before where someone offers to make a blanket from donated squares and all of a sudden people are sending dozens upon dozens of squares. It makes lots of sense to me to limit donors to one square and then end the challenge when sufficient squares have been assembled. The finished blanket really ends up being a mosaic of the efforts of a multitude of crafters, as it was meant to be!

There were some curious looks while I was making the square at work yesterday. As I worked the light blue wiggles one of the sales reps approached to comment about how bright my colour choices were. "I guess people like all sort of things in garment fashion these days" he remarked. LOL. Imagine wearing an orange outfit with blue and white wiggles!

It's Friday, and as usual you can head over to Tami's Amis to have a look at the accomplishments of dozens of other crafters. There's always lots of interesting things to see!

extended play socks

One more pair of scrappy socks done; all that's left to do is to get them in the mail. Last time I posted a parcel I tried Canada Post's online shipping tools. That worked out pretty well. The rate calculator allowed me to enter different measurements to determine the most cost-effective parcel size and shape. And I could print my own labels and drop them in a mailbox before work rather than lining up at Post Office counter during working hours.

By alternating the red/grey kroy sock yarn with a coordinating solid grey yarn I was able to extend the red all the way through the legs and the feet and use up that yarn entirely. It's been kind of fun to experiment with different strategies to use up oddments of sock yarn. For my next pair of scrappy socks I'm looking at this pattern: Circle Socks. Although the pattern is written for self-striping yarn, I plan to use two colours of yarn instead along the lines of what I did in my Circle Cloth.

This pair is the fourth pair of socks completed this month. Count that as about 300 grams out and 0 grams in - more progress towards my goal to Surmount The Stash in 2012! How are you doing with your goals and resolutions?

Work in Progress and Wool-Eater Wednesday

Aside from starting and finishing some vanilla socks from scrap yarn my crafting time this past week has been devoted to my Wool-Eater blanket. Spread out flat, the blanket is now a 36x36 inch square. I'm way ahead of the CAL schedule - I'm now working my 14th colour whereas the schedule suggests I should have just finished my 10th colour. But I can't help myself; I can't put it down. As soon as I start one colour I want to finish it and get to the next. And not just out of curiosity to see when I run short of wool!

But my obsession might explain why the cat's all over this blanket too. When it's spread across my lap she comes to sit on it. When I spread the blanket out on the floor she plants herself in the middle of it. If I drape it across the ottoman she jumps up onto it. Maybe she's not that much of a fan of the blanket? Could it be that she's trying to divert my attention away from it and back to her?

My plan is to finish this blanket by the end of the month. Based on the wool I have left I'm figuring on four or five more colours after the light green is done for a blanket that's approximately 48x48 inches square. What a fabulous pattern this is - top marks!

I'm heading over to Tami's Amis to see all the cute and clever projects in progress. Come have a look! After all in just over a week, I'll be done mine; there might be something there to suggest what I should start next. You can also have a look at the bloggers participating in the Keep Calm Craft On link-up for more!

What is up with the weather?! It's 4° celsius now and the forecast high for today is 9° celsius with steady rain. Shouldn't this be snow? After all this is supposed to be January in Canada. Very odd weather indeed! What's next ... January showers bring February flowers?

On Saturday I finished this first red/grey sock. This morning I cast on the second. My plan is to focus on these socks until they're done and then bundle up several pairs of socks to post to the Warm Hands Network in time for their end of January shipment to Moosonee. Of all this stash-busting socks I've knit, I think these are my favourites. Or maybe I just like red?

I'd also like to finish up my blue Whitby socks this week. And finish up my Wool-Eater blanket by the end of the month. Then what? I've been looking at this hat pattern; it might be just perfect for chemo hats from some leftover worsted yarn in my stash. As well I've been looking at three skeins of laceweight yarn in my stash. If I hold it double one skein may work for this Miss Doolittle scarf pattern. I bought the pattern last year but have yet to knit it, so it's about time!

Year of Projects - Whitby 04

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

Still another late post for my Year of Projects but at least I've this time managed to post on the correct day. If, after glancing at the photo, you thought to yourself 'well, she hasn't got much done' you'd be right. This week I've focused instead on quickly knitting up vanilla socks from sock yarn scraps in time for the January 30th shipping deadline at the Warm Hands Network. These Whitby socks have taken a back seat for now, but after my Wednesday mailing deadline passes I should be able to return my attention to this project. Maybe I can finish them in time for next week's YoP post?

It's not just these Whitby socks that have been set aside. My Wool-Eater blanket has also been largely ignored. After finding myself short about 20 yards of red yarn last week, I decided to rip out the two rounds of red and re-crochet a bit tighter. Last night I ripped out and this afternoon I finished re-crocheting. Good news: I made it with about 5 yards to spare! Now that's stash-busting!

One more note about my Year of Projects. There's one pattern - Traveler's Stockings - that I have already knit. It's a gorgeous pattern and I wouldn't mind knitting it again but I'm going to strike it off my Year of Projects list. I'm starting to feel a bit impatient about finishing the list; there are so many other sock patterns that I want to knit soon. That being said, I'm still determined to finish. So far I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I like these patterns once I've knit them. I'm pretty sure my patience will be rewarded by the remaining patterns.