sockapalooza oh dear

sockapalooza sock, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

This was the state of my sockapalooza socks this morning. I knew I was cutting it fine, but I think I overestimated how much knitting I could get done while running around managing a conference.

Sorry sockpal, they're going to be late.

The yarn is Foxglove from Fyberspates, the pattern is based on Adrian's Cable Twist socks but with different sized twisting columns (3, 4 and 5 stitches rather than all 5s) and alternating directions. I like how they look. I'm a little worried that the stitch pattern is eating yarn and I'll run out, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The conference finishes tomorrow and then I'll knit as fast as I can so I get these posted off before I go on holiday.

ready, steady, socks!

foxglove yarn, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

My sockapalooza yarn is here at last. The first skein I ordered from Fyberspates seems to have been eaten by the Post Office, so I emailed the lovely Jeni and she sent me a new one which arrived next day.

I wound it into a centre pull ball almost immediately and began a Marigold. It's pooling a bit and I haven't got far enough to decide whether it's pooling in a way I like or not. But I've begun, at least.

one roza

one roza, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Proving that slow and steady gets there eventually.

Cast on date: 9 May 2007
Cast off date: 9 July 2007

I wonder how long the second one will take me?

And then there's the continued non-appearance of my yarn for sockapalooza. I wanted to have the socks done by 20 July since I will be busy at a work conference from then until the beginning of August. No yarn so far, not much time to knit and an essay to write, also by 20 July. Hmm. Sock pal, I think your socks may be a little late arriving.

slow sock

slow sock, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I'm still knitting, a bit. This is still my first Roza's sock, which is growing slowly, but steadily.

I really must start my sockapalooza socks soon. I've got a pattern in mind, I just need the yarn to arrive.

purple stuff

aka startitis or things I meant to blog about but never did.

I think it's obvious what my favourite colour is, don't you? Here we have various projects. From the top centre, a swatch for the Back to School U-neck vest from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel (recent acquisition, love it!), going clockwise, a small amount of sleeve for a cardigan based on the Treeline striped cardigan from Purl bee, a feather and fan comfort shawl in various oddments, and quite a bit of Bottoms Up, a top from the first issue of Yarn Forward. The last of these is what I'm knitting on most at the moment. It's in 4ply, Rowan 4 ply soft to be precise, and so is a slow grower. I'm not letting myself start the vest until at least one of these is finished.

I'm not sure whether I like the cardigan or not. I like the design and these colours, a dark purple and a lighter lilac, but the yarn is rather scrunchy superwash wool. Still, the first ever cardigan I made was in very squeaky acrylic in day-glo muppet colours and I wore that quite a lot. Still would if it wasn't now ridiculously loose. I expect I'll persevere, cardigans are useful. Plus there's loads of both those yarns sitting in a plastic bag under my desk and it's a good way to use them up.

I do like the top. I think it might be autumn before it's the right sort of temperature to wear it, though with the random weather we've been having lately, who knows. Cotton would be the obvious choice, but I had 4 balls of 4ply soft sitting around (an eBay aquisition), so bought 2 more to go with them and began (different dye-lot of course, so I'm alternating old and new).

This pic makes the shawl look like a big purple mess. It's nicer in person, honest. I seem to have got a bit obsessed with shawls. This is my third this year.

What else am I up to? The Shetland shawl needs an FO post. My first Roza's sock is still slow. I need to start my sockapalooza socks, once I've decided what I'm making.

I was supposed to be knitting less this year. So far, I'm not convinced I am. Ah well.

Shetland triangle 2 blocking

Shetland triangle 2 blocking - detail, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

She's blocking, at last.

kimono

kimono, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

This was what I spent most of last Saturday making. I wanted a summer dressing gown and this fits the bill perfectly.

The fabric is a cheap (4m for £4.40) poly-cotton (probably) from the Textile Centre on Walthamstow market. I used a kosode/kimono pattern I came across online. You can't really tell, but the sleeves are sewn together under the armhole for those classic dangly sleeves. I did French seams everywhere, which took ages, but was worth it for a neat finish. The belt's just a long skinny rectangle. This was a fun pattern, because you just start with a series of rectangles, sew them together, do a little folding and cutting and there you go. Sort of. It took about 6 hours. Anyway, I like the result.

Roza's sock in progress

Roza's sock in progress, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

To prove I'm still knitting, here's progress. I'm 2/3 up the heel flap on my toe-up Roza. So far, it fits perfectly. Look at that line of increases. I was reading somewhere about putting guesset increases or decreases in places other than all in a line beside the instep stitches, so thought I'd give it a go. I wonder if makes much difference to the fit? Probably not since it doesn't alter the direction the stitches are lying in. This has become my at work lunchtime knitting, so it's going to be slow.

The Shetland shawl from the last post is finished and awaits blocking. I was going to block it on Sunday night, except we were supposed to be having some small visitors coming for breakfast on Monday (the children of friends of my housemate) so pinning things to the living room floor didn't seem a very sensible idea. In the end, my housemate was ill and small visitors came there none. Still didn't get round to blocking. Maybe tomorrow night.

sock and triangle

sort of Roza's sock, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

See, proper content.

This is my take on Roza's socks from Interweave Knits Spring 06 (by the infamous Grumperina). I switched it to toe-up, just because and increased the stitch count to fit my large feet. It'll probably have a flap heel. I've never tried Brioche stitch before, I rather like it.

another Shetland triangle, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

This is another Shetland Triangle, rather smaller than the last one. It's in the small ball (40g) of 4-ply hand-dyed Shetland wool I bought from Shilasdair on Skye last summer. I think I'll have to find something to go with it to make it a decent size. We'll see. It's going pretty quickly so far. I began on Saturday afternoon, knitted through Eurovision and then did a couple more repeats on Sunday afternoon. Lace knitting in the warm, when it's pouring with rain outside. Bliss!

what have you knit?

I have knitting to show, but I haven't taken any photos of it yet, so here's a meme to amuse you. Found here and here and probably all over the place.

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO (i've been knitting for years and I STILL don't know how to do this.)
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

um?

Does anyone know why the months on my blog archive are now appearing in Spanish (I think, it's not a language I speak, whatever it is)? I'm not averse to multi-lingual blogging, but I didn't do it on purpose and having checked all my settings, I can't work out why it's happening or change it back. Perhaps it'll disappear as mysteriously as it appeared.

ETA: Yep, it disppeared as soon as I posted this. Most odd.

bayerische cuff

bayerische cuff, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

This is far as it got. The colour's completely off (it's Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in 'Berry' and it's a darker purple). I like the pattern, but it's not big enough to get over my ankle. Going up another needle size might fix it, might not. I'm not completely sure about the colour. The cables would probably pop better in something lighter. I've ripped it out and the yarn is waiting for me to decide what to do. I might try Cookie A's Twisted Flower socks.

In the meantime I've started Rosa's socks from Interweave Knits Spring 07. Except they're toe-up and over more stitches. Funny, the Bayerische socks were actually a rare case of my following the pattern as written. Nothing wrong with the pattern, in that case, just the size of my feet.

spring socks done

spring socks done, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Finished and enjoying the spring sunshine.

Started: 6 April 2007

Finished: 26 April 2007

Pattern: Elfine's Socks by Anna Bell

Yarn: Curious Yarns sock yarn in Sprung

Needles: 2.5mm circs. I used magic loop for most of it and 2 circulars for the heel.

Modifications: After making my first pair of Elfines for my sock pal last year, I decided I'd need to make them bigger to fit me. I increased the number of stitches to 68, leaving the lace pattern unchanged, but adding an extra knit stitch. On the legs, this means the purl column at either side becomes purl, knit, purl. I also did an toe-up flap heel. They're actually a little baggy at the heel now, so perhaps just one of those changes would have been enough.

spring sock

spring sock group portrait, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Elfine's socks* by Anna Bell, Curious Yarns sock yarn in Sprung. Perfect for seaonal socks. Funny how some socks take forever and others just fly off the needles. I started this one a week ago and finished it on Wednesday night. Sock 2 is already growing.

I was going to give this sock an outdoor photoshoot in the garden, but yesterday's sunshine has disappeared, to be replaced with grey mist. Instead, here are a snake, a horse and a sheep from a string of animals representing the Chinese calendar.

*I wonder what socks Elfine would wear after Flora Post takes her in hand and transforms her from a wild marshticket to an elegant maiden? Fine silk stockings perhaps, with a secret border of leaves and sukebind.

tangle

tangle, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I've got myself into a lovely tangle winding this skein of laceweight silk. It's pretty big, about 2000m and it's taking a long time to wind by hand. I don't have a swift, so I started with the skein round my knees and then moved it onto a chair. I'm winding onto a kitchen roll tube and my first attempt (you can just see it down in the right hand corner) was a bit loose, so now I'm winding from the other end. It's going to take a while, but it's getting there.

reorganisation and joining in

I've been reorganising my blogs. They still look a bit cluttered, but there's more space to write in. Let me know if there's anything that looks odd.

The sign-ups are open for
They have been for a while, so if you haven't signed up yet, go now!

FYI Walthamstow knitters

The Scope shop on Walthamstow High Street has lots of knitting needles for £1.50 a set, including lots of dpns in various sizes (Inox and Addi) and some Addi Turbos (a few, mostly 50cm).

finished lovemeknots

finished lovemeknots - hearts, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

At last!

Started: 10 August 2006

Finished: 4 April 2007

Yarn: Cygnet wool-rich 4 ply. Most of 1 ball of black, 2/3 ball cream

Needles: 2.5mm circs (magic loop) and dpns (for heel)

Notes: I had a serious case of second sock syndrome with these socks. I love the result, but I don't like the process of shadow knitting. I think it's the ratio between having to pay attention (rows with knits and purls) and just plodding on (plain knit rows). There's not quite enough of either. Anyway, they're done and I'm wearing them today and amusing myself by wiggling my feet to make the hearts appear and disappear. Nice pattern Alice!

Ooh, go and look at Alice's cat socks from her winning entry to the Purlescence story competition.

felted Bible case

felted, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Finished, except for a closure.

Started: 19 March 2007

Finished: 25 March/1 April (knitting/felting)

Yarn: Hand-dyed Shetland X merino blended with mohair, bought in Ardvasar on the isle of Skye on holiday last year.

Needles: 4mm circulars

Pattern: make a swatch, felt it, measure it, calculate numbers to fit, knit, felt.

Notes: The yarn doesn't felt (OK, full, technically) as completely as some others, you can still see some stitch definition. But the fabric it makes is firm enough for my purposes and the mohair fluffs up nicely. At some point I'll add a button, or poppers, or a ribbon to keep it closed.

prefelting

prefelting, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Work in progress. I sent this through the washing machine last night and it's currently drying. Here's a prefelting pic so you can see how it shrinks.