BO strike one

After completing JSSBO on my first sock, I examined the ribbing with dismay. That's not exactly what I had in mind. Although the ribbing flows continuously from the pattern on the leg, the top of the sock looks ... well ... frilly. That's just not going to fly. Time to rethink the cuff! Maybe use the stretchy bind off every other stitch?

As I write this the sun's just coming up. With sunrise today at 7:52am and sunset expected at 6:10pm, we'll have only 10 hrs 17 mins of daylight - 2 mins 40 secs less than yesterday. I'll have to wait for better light before picking out the bound off edge. I don't like these short days of November and December; days when it's dark when I get up and dark when I finish work. What's next? Snow?

a recipe for toe-ups

A few days ago I found myself in a muddle about these socks. To make most efficient use of the yarn I decided to alter the pattern to knit them toe up. Easy enough with a simple pattern like this. As well, I decided on the larger size with 72 stitches, albeit on a smaller needle size since so many Ravelers reported that their socks came out too large.

But since I've never knit a toe up sock on 72 stitches I don't have a formula for the heel. Never mind, I thought, when it comes to it I'll figure something out. When I completed my gusset increases I started looking around for help with the heel and came across this Mash-Up Magic Toe-Up socks recipe. It's not the heel I had in mind - I was planning a short-row heel turn instead of a heel extension - but it works fine and isn't it great to have a formula to make any sock pattern toe up?!

Now that the heel's done, this first sock should be done in the next day or two. I am planning to switch to one size larger needles to give the leg above the ankle a bit more ease. And I'm debating about the cuff. Do I really need to switch K2P2 rib? If I knit it as K6P2 rib it'll continue the flow of the pattern, but will that be stretchy enough to keep the sock up?

Save Tigers Now

My 10 year old nephew called me the other day to discuss the situation with the Tigers. He carefully explained the facts and how they are critically endangered, and then begged me to help. "Please Aunt Lynn, you have to do something!"

How can I help? As a Christmas present for each niece and nephew I'm donating to Save Tigers Now through the World Wildlife Fund. I'll divide up the free gift - Tiger lunch tote, large tote and water bottle - and combine them with books about Tigers and plush toys. As well as donating much needed funds, I'm helping by educating them and spreading the word. So if you're stuck for gift ideas this Christmas, it's something to consider. And if I can manage it, I might also knit them each a Tiger Stamped Hat. Or do you think the hat is too juvenile for the 8-10 year olds?

working the border

For the next couple days this blanket'll be impossible to pose for a nice picture. The centre of the blanket is bunched up with the edge stitches on circs. You'll just have to take my word for it - this border is gorgeous. This pattern, Tweed Baby Blanket, is beautifully written and charted. I've already had a look; I've got enough suitable worsted weight yarn on hand to knit the entire blanket, and not just the border.

The jury's still out about my border yarn choice. The colour is right but it's lacking the intensity of the main colourway. It looks a bit dull in contrast, but maybe that's okay for a border? I just can't decide, so I'm taking Suse-the-slow-knitta's advice to keep calm and carry on. Once it's done, I can lay it out flat and have a good critical look.

Reading ahead, the border is finished with an iCord edge. That'll be a new technique for me. I'm looking forward to it!

doh!

By picking up one stitch for each stitch on the cast off edges of the centre blocks, I came up with 132 stitches on each of the 4 blanket sides. Referring to the lace chart for the border of Jared Flood's Tweed Baby Blanket I increased another 14 stitches on each side to end up with 8 repeats of the chart plus a stitch on each end of each side. So I'm away to the races. Er, at least, I was.

This morning I took a fresh look at the lace chart. Oh, I see; it's purl rows that create the ridges that characterize this border, and I've just skipped right past the first purl row. Drat! What this means is that the hours before work are allocated to tinking out the almost six hundred stitches of the last round. My mantra for today? If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right!

success, sort of

Our trip to the Creativ Festival was very successful.

i) I did get some yarn for the border of my blanket. I couldn't find exactly the right shade in worsted weight so I'm holding this fingering weight yarn double for the border. The colourway is called "Green Apple" from Indigo Moon, and it's spot on to some of the lighter shades in the variegated yarn making up the centre area of the blanket. Perfect - I've already cast on the border.

ii) I did not find any green sock yarn. Well, there was actually lots of green sock yarn but none that screamed "Buy me". Not to worry, I've been planning to order this yarn, but thought I should look at the Creativ Festival first in case I could save myself the shipping costs. Plan B it is; the Loopy Ewe order has been placed.

iii) There were two more purchases that fall into the category of "unbelievable" and "too good to be true". First, some handmade wood buttons for my Tea Leaves cardigan. These buttons actually did scream "Buy Me" so what choice did I have? And secondly a pattern from DJ Richards Design for a quilted centrepiece. Debbie was demonstrating how easy and how forgiving her design was - we were hooked, Shirley and me both. I've made several quilts and have lots of scraps in my stash, but another full size quilt is a larger project than I've wanted to take on. This little centrepiece looks like just the ticket for sewing up those scraps. So, in a way, buying this pattern was an act of stash busting, right?

a bad idea, maybe

Tomorrow Shirley and I are going to the Creativ Festival. I know what you're thinking: isn't that a bad idea for someone supposedly on a yarn diet? We'll see. If I overspend or come home with bags of impulsive purchases, then yes, a bad idea.

But I have a plan. There are only three things I'll consider buying:

i) Worsted weight yarn in colours that compliment the Aegean colourway of these blanket squares so that I can knit a border.

ii) Vibrant green sock yarn to suit two names on my Christmas knitting list.

iii) any unbelievable deal that is just too good to be true.

Item number three certainly leaves me some leeway, doesn't it? I just have to be strong and determined to stick to my plan. I think I can, I think I can...