Year of Projects 4: Om Shanti

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

Last week I started (and finished) Om Shanti socks. Truth be told, I'd been avoiding this pattern. The KAL for this pattern ends in September so it was decision time: knit them to complete the KAL? or skip them and disqualify myself from the "Hall of Fame" for completing all the Socktopus patterns? Of course I knit them.

Sometimes when I knit a pattern that doesn't appeal to me, the pattern surprises me. I might learn a new technique that I like, or I might like the pattern better than I thought I would; you just never know. In this case I did pick up a tip about how to modify a short row w&t garter stitch heel for a higher instep, so I'm pleased about that. But I still don't like these socks.

I had planned to knit these from MCN, however these socks are knit on 2.5-2.75mm needles so I switched to a sport weight yarn. It's always best to knit socks at tight gauge; they're more comfortable and more durable that way.

So what don't I like about these socks? Well, first of all they're thick and entirely unsuitable for wearing in shoes. The designer specifically calls these "bed socks" so that was not a surprise, but I have no use for bed socks. My feet poke outside the covers at night to cool off. As well they're ankle socks, which aren't my thing. I wear socks to keep my feet warm; I don't want wintery winds whistling up my pant legs around my ankles. And then there's the cuff with its horizontal Kihnu Vits braid and corrugated ribbing. Interesting design choices - neither of these elements has any stretch. Don't you want your sock cuff stretchy? Must I struggle to them pull on and off over my heels?

Nope, these socks are done, photographed and will be promptly frogged. And the best remedy for sock pattern disappointment is to cast on a different pair. So that's exactly what I did; I've cast on Farmer McGregor socks. What a difference! Loving these! And look, it's the last pair from Socktopus!

Year of Projects 4: Marilinda 02

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

As I knit the first few inches of these Marilinda socks in Dye-Version stretch bamboo sock yarn I was worried that the yarn was too busy for the pattern. Unless I'm knitting in a solid colour, I almost always think that. I guess it's all about the pattern for me with sock knitting - that's why I typically buy tonal yarns. The only thing to do is to knit a few more inches, try the sock on and then decide. More repeats can reinforce the details of a pattern, and, as every lace knitter knows, stretching the fabric open can make the pattern pop too.

I'm sure you'll agree, now that we can see the finished socks, that those initial fears were groundless. The pattern and yarn are just fine together!

Now about this pattern: it's a bit surprising because it might be one of the very few Cookie A. patterns I've ever encountered with almost no knitting through the back loop. That was a pleasant change of pace. I don't mind some knitting through the back loop occasionally but not whole patterns of it, please!

It's always a nice touch when the cuff ribbing flows into the main leg pattern. In this case there's a transition chart, and the main pattern slowly emerges from the ribbing. Awesome! And the heel has it's own chart too, where the pattern slowly dissolves back into ribbing. More awesome!

One more nice thing? A plain stockinette wedge toe. Although it would be awesome knitting fun to knit another pattern chart for the toe; if I'm to wear them an unpatterned toe is preferable. I can't stand the feeling of decreases across the tops of my toes or under the pads of them. Sorry, that's just the way it is. I've been known to rip back patterned toes and reknit them to plain stockinette.

Now, I'd better get moving with Om Shanti. I need to get them finished and posted in the KAL thread on Ravelry before the end of September. Not to worry - they're knit on 2.75mm needles. That should take no time at all! Contrast that to this Fox Paws pattern .... Wandering Cat is trying to tempt me into a KAL with this pattern. That'd pretty much wreak havoc with Christmas knitting plans, wouldn't it?!

Year of Projects 04: Marilinda 01

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

Although for KAL timing reasons I probably should have cast on Om Shanti, instead I cast on Marilinda. It just looked like more fun. When I first glanced at the pattern I thought it was a lot of cabling, but it turns out to be mostly travelling stitches. That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I don't mind an occasional cable, but a lot of cabling is... well... tiresome. There are lots of fun charts, with a handful of symbols and corresponding stitch sequences that I have never seen before. That's kinda fun. And the heel flap is patterned; I just love that!

The yarn is Dye-Version stretch bamboo sock which I picked up from a Ravelry destash. I've been wanting to make a pair of socks for my sister, but her skin condition can be exacerbated by wool. I hope the Bamboo/Lycra blend is more soothing. It's interesting to knit. It's soft and a bit slippery with quite a bit of sheen to it. It looks like it wants to worm, but it seems to knit smoothly and the stitch definition is fine. It's not splitty like you'd expect for bamboo, and the lycra gives the bamboo a much needed springiness and stretchiness. So far, so good, other than a stripey-ness that I'm not entirely enamoured with.

I'm not very far along - just the first leg and heel knit - but the pattern actually flies pretty quickly. I just haven't had much time to spend on it. There are couple of reasons...

First, I've got a new computer at work. Thursday I finished the migration from old to new. Friday I spent downloading and updating software. Feels like I entered my Apple ID a thousand times! So far so good though; seems almost everything works exactly as it should. And the new MAC is lightning fast!

Second, I've taken over moderation of a group on Ravelry. It's my first experience with something like this so there's a bit of a learning curve. I've created and uploaded new badges, I've learned how to sticky threads and now I'm trying different things to encourage the participation of the group members. A big thank you to Wandering Cat Yarns for their support in donating a skein of yarn as a prize for our first KAL.

Third, I've been working with my brother to self-publish a series of stories to raise money for the restoration of a historic train station in McAdam, NB. He wrote a Christmas novella which will launch on November 9th ... well, presuming I got the illustrations done and the books printed. Looks like we're on track (lol - a train joke); the files are with the printer and we expect the first samples in the next few days.

Fourth, I've finished the blanket I've been working on since July. The baby is due early to mid December, however as overseas shipping can take 6-8 weeks unless you pay premium rates, my deadline for this was looming. I hope it will arrive to the expectant grandparents in time to gift to the expectant parents at a baby shower in the weeks before delivery. The pattern for the blanket is Sea of Dreams - this is the second time I've knit it and it's just a gorgeous the second time through. The yarn is Baby Cashmerino with I ordered from LoveKnitting.com. My yarn arrived in a sheer organza bag - just the perfect thing in which to wrap the finished blanket. Those adorable little gift tags you see? They're handmade by my friend Jane - her Etsy shop is here.

Year of Projects 4: Gothic Spire 04

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

Wow, I love these socks. This Gothic Spire pattern might be my all-time favourite! The smocked stitches combine with the travelling stitches to create an almost wrought iron look. And all that knitting through the back loops has paid off - the stitches really pop.

I stand by my mods - a series of dramatic decreases at the top of the heel flap and the at the beginning of the toe section create a smoother transition from the pattern to stockinette. As you can imagine all that smocking necessitates a high primary stitch count and the fabric bunches at those transitions if you don't decrease.

There are eyelets in there too - and I think we all know how I feel about eyelets - but they seem pretty important to this pattern. I suspect that the eyelets help give the patterned areas a bit of stretch and flexibility.

With all that smocking and a high primary stitch count these socks eat up a lot of yarn. Fortunately the yarn I chose - Super Cash Sock from Studio June Yarn - is put up in 100 gram 435 yard skeins. The skein I got was 108 grams so my yardage was probably more like 470 yards. It was enough to do the large size with an extra half repeat on the foot for my size 11s. For a while it looked like it was going to be close, but thankfully it's one more game of yarn chicken played and won!

It's been crazy hectic over the last few weeks - Eat, Sleep, Work and Repeat. I didn't get much knitting done and I didn't get any blogging done, and there were a whole lot of other things not done (like laundry and cleaning the house). But work is starting to settle down and I hope to be back on my usual routine by the end of this week or the start of next week. I did get a chance to cast on my first Marilinda sock ... but that's next week's topic!

Year of Projects 4: Gothic Spire 03

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

Turns out ripping back, adding decreases and reknitting the heel flap and gusset was totally the right decision. Decreasing from 42 sts to 32 sts at the top of the leg improved the fit dramatically. There's still a small bump where the leg pattern meets the ribbing at the top of the heel flap when I turn my foot certain ways but I shudder to think how far I'd have had to rip back to fix that. I suppose I could have tapered the last vertical repeat at the back of the leg ahead of the heel by omitting some of the yarn overs ... but hey, it works fine for me now, so I'm leaving well enough alone.

And there's more good news: sock one weighs 50 grams, leaving me with 58 grams for sock two! No need to order more yarn. Thank goodness this Super Cash Soft sock yarn from Studio June Yarn ships with such generous yardage! Remind me to put a bit more thought into this when I match up yarn to the remaining patterns.

Last night temperatures fell to 13° C (55° F) which is crazy cold for August, so I wore sock one while I worked on sock two. Have I mentioned how much I love these socks??!! Occasionally I think that I should be adding these to the gift pile, but I really don't think I have the strength to give them away. It's quite possible that these are my favourite socks of all the socks I've ever made. Definitely in the top three anyway.

Considering I'm more than halfway through the leg of sock two, I'd guess that this pair will be finished by the end of the week. And then it's decision time - cast on Om Shanti for the Socktopus KAL with some more Super Cash Sock yarn in a colourway called "Cocoa Dusted Truffle", or cast on Marilinda from Knit. Sock. Love. with Dye-Version's Bamboo Sock in a colourway called "Sky". What would you do?

Year of Projects 4: Gothic Spire 02

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

Last week I wrote "The recommendation from the designer is 370-555 yards. I've got 430 yards to work with, so wish me luck!" and just typing that sentence gave me pause. I'm knitting the large size; can I realistically expect to finish them with 430 yards? No, probably not. For a couple of days I considered omitting one vertical repeat on each leg - that would likely save enough yardage to squeak them out of one skein. But I couldn't bring myself to do it; I love these socks too much to shorten the legs. Instead I had a look at the yarn dyer's Etsy site, and yes, there are two more skeins available. Rather than skimp, I decided to finish sock one, weigh it and the remaining yarn, and then order a second skein if necessary. After all, there'd be enough left over from the second skein for some fingerless mitts, right?

After making that decision I picked up the needles again, finished the fourth vertical repeat on the leg and then carried on through the heel and the gusset. The heel is worked over 42 stitches, and that seemed like a lot, but I reasoned that the instep pattern is quite inflexible and probably that extra ease is needed. Sounds convincing, right? Yeah, until I finished the gusset decreases and tried on the sock this morning. If I hold my foot a certain way it doesn't look too bad but there's no escaping the facts:  there's a bulge at the bottom of the leg where the heel flap starts, and the heel and gusset are baggy. I should have known better. 

Later today - when I am less annoyed with myself and this sock - I'll rip back to the start of the heel flap to add a row of decreases to address the fit problems. Despite my frustration, I still love these socks too much to not go back and fix this. Besides, with half the foot done I still have 67 grams left of my original skein. Narrowing the heel flap and tightening up the gussets will save yardage and make it quite possible to finish the pair from one skein. Fingers crossed again!

So my new plan is to rip back today and reknit to finish sock one by the end of this week. That way I can confirm that one skein is enough put that worry to rest. I've got a busy week ahead with meetings before and after work, but I'll be on public transit for two days and that means lots of time to knit. Now I'd better stop whinging about this sock and get on with my chores!

Year of Projects 4: Gothic Spire 01

SOCKTOPUS :  Farmer McGregor • Om Shanti

KNIT. SOCK. LOVE. : BFF • Clandestine • Cusp • German Stockings • Gothic Spire • Hedera • In and Out • Lissajous • Marilinda • Mona • Monkey • Pointelle • Rhombus • Sake • Stalagmite • Stricken • Thelonious • Twisted Flower • Wedge

And now for something completely different; I've made a start on Gothic Spire socks. Just looking at the charts made my  heart leap - a symbol I'd never seen before! Turns out working the new-to-me stitch involves shifting stitches to a cable needle, wrapping them a few times and then knitting the wrapped stitches. As you can imagine, it really slows you down. On the first repeat I used my fifth DPN for a cable needle but that was way too cumbersome. Gavin took an old broken rosewood DPN and made me a much smaller cable needle to shorten the distance around which I have to wrap the yarn. It really makes a tremendous difference.

The yarn is from Studio June Yarns - it's Super Cash Sock in a TexGal Light colourway. It's a gorgeous royal blue and soooo very soft. The colour in the first photo is more accurate than the second, I'd say. I'm going to have to be careful about yarn usage. A number of Ravelers warn that with all these wrapped stitches the pattern is a yarn hog. The recommendation from the designer is 370-555 yards. I've got 430 yards to work with, so wish me luck!

There are four chart repeats to be worked on the leg. I've completed two and have started the third. But there's no hurry as I'm enjoying this pattern tremendously and really loving the way it looks. Although, I'm starting to think that this Year of Projects is really going to be an entire year of knitting in the back loops. It's a Cookie A. thing, I think.

Monday is a civic holiday here - Lord Simcoe day or some such. Aren't long weekends lovely? We've spent the first couple of days at Lake Erie and now it's time to do chores. Laundry awaits!