I finally got around to knitting up the Artyarns Supermerino that I’ve had in the stash for a while. I picked it up as a gift to myself when I was in Fresno, CA as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding a few years ago. During a break between running around doing bridesmaid tasks and the rehearsal, I snuck off to the yarn store, Ancient Pathways. It was a really nice way to treat myself in a weekend that was all about other people. I was lucky and found two skeins of this yarn in the sale bin, and got it for a steal.
I finally decided that I wanted to use the yarn, and went searching for a pattern to use with it. I came upon Thuja from an older Knitty issue. I decided to give it a try.
I forgot how quickly a heavier weight sock can knit up. I finished these in a matter of days.
Pattern: Thuja
Designer: Bobby Ziegler
Source: Knitty, Winter 2005
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino (104 yards/50g)
Quantity: 2(208 yards/100g)
Color: 101
Needles: Addi Turbo US4 (3.5mm)
Started: June 7, 2008
Completed: June 15, 2008
Pattern modifications:
- I cast on 40 stitches instead of 44
- Knit the foot as 21 stitches on the top and 19 stitches on the bottom so that I could center the purl stitch in the center of the foot, so the pattern on the top of the foot became
Round 1: K all stitches
Round 2: K2, P1, [K3, P1] 3 times, K2
- Decreased toe until 8 stitches remained
Yarn Overview:
This yarn is super squishy, which is one of the reasons I purchased it. It washes well, no signs of pilling so far. However, I’m not sure I’d use this yarn for socks again. While the socks are soft and warm, they are showing some significant signs of wear after just a few wearings. In the future I’d use this yarn for sweaters or hats or anything else that doesn’t get as much wear and tear as socks.
It’s another project from the backlog.
I picked up a copy of Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One from the library because I was interested in seeing the new ways she handled sock architecture in it. I wasn’t completely sure I’d like the book, and since the local library has a good knitting book selection, I decided to give it a try.
After looking through the book, I really liked the Spiraling Coriolis socks, but I wasn’t sure about them. Like many of the socks in her book, they were knit toe-up. I usually stick to top-down socks, mostly because of my terrible wrap and turn short rows. In fact, I’ve been known to rework patterns that are written toe-up into top-down so that I don’t have to deal with it. This book set me straight on short rows. Following the instructions that Cat provides, I finally understood how to wrap and turn. The instructions just made sense. Thank you Cat!
As I mentioned in my previous post on these socks, they did have a few challenges that I had to work through. What you can’t see in any of the photos is how tight this sock is. The spiral bands are much tighter than the rest of the sock, and make it a little difficult to get the socks on and off. But, they also help to keep the socks up, which is something I worried about for my first pair of mostly stockinette socks. But, overall, I’m really pleased with the way they turned out.
I’ve added this book to my wish list. I think the ideas it contains are really interesting, and I’d like to explore a few more of them. And, if nothing else, it contains a great set of instructions for short row wrap and turn.
I really like this last photo because you can easily see how the bands spiral in opposite directions. Depending on how you wear them, they can spiral towards or away from each other.
Pattern: Spiraling Master Coriolis
Designer: Cat Bordhi
Source: New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight (360 yards/128g)
Color: Chapman Springs
Needles: US0 (2.0mm)
Started: June 17, 2008
Completed: July 30, 2008
Pattern modifications:
Since the patterns in this book are so customizable, there was little I needed to change. However I changed the following things
- Increased the spiral band to 4 stitches all the way around
- started out with Magic cast-on
- Modified the slip stitch heel so that the heel flap is in the Eye of Partridge pattern
- Adjusted the decrease/increase rate on the leg to better fit the shape of my calf
This is the start of catching up on my backlog of finished projects.
Jim is behind this pair of socks, both the pattern and the yarn. One night, while I was searching for something new to knit, Jim told me to ”go get that book I got you”. He was referring to Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. I went and got the book off the shelf and handed it to him. He then asked me for two numbers. I gave him two which he added together, flipped open the book to the page, and landed on Evening Stockings for a Young Lady.
Now, I wasn’t really looking to make that pair of socks, so I protested a little bit. I tried all sorts of logic…”I don’t want to make them knee length”…”I don’t have enough yarn in one color to make them”…”It’s going to be winter soon, and I don’t want lacey socks”… Jim caved, and two numbers later, we landed on the page for Gentleman’s Fancy Sock. Since I’d already knit that pair, Jim agreed to try one more time. This time, he had me give him three numbers. He added the first two together, and subtracted the third from the total. Again we ended up on the page for the Evening Stockings for a Young Lady. Even I agreed that perhaps the fates were directing me to knit the socks.
Next, he called for me to knit them in a “girly” yarn. Now, if you know me, you’ll know that girly is not a word that would describe yarn I would usually buy. We flipped to my stash page in Ravelry, and Jim picked out my Socks that Rock in Rhodonite, which he bought for me for our anniversary last year. As you can see below, with its pink and purpleness, it definitely qualifies as girly.
I cast on for the pair that night, and worked on them exclusively for a few weeks. In the end, I’m not sure why this pair of socks took me so long to knit. The pattern was easy to memorize. Each time I worked on them, I felt as if I made significant progress. I think it may have been one of those cases where I just wasn’t doing much knitting.
The socks seem to have lost a bit of the overall pale pink girly quality that I felt that the yarn had in the skein. In the finished socks, I actually think that the fuchsia and purple colors dominate the socks. The color does dominate the pattern, as often happens with handdyed yarn and lace patterns, but I’m pleased with the final outcome.
Pattern: Evening Stockings for a Young Lady
Designer: Nancy Bush
Source: Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight
Quantity: 1 (360 yards/128g)
Color: Rhodonite
Needles: KnitPicks 32″ 2.25mm
Started: September 29, 2008
Completed: October 23, 2008
Pattern modifications:
- Skipped most of the shaped calf section by starting with 66 stitches
- Knit 14 rows 2×1 ribbing, followed by 7 rows of the 3×1 ribbing
- Knit 2 pattern repeats, then decreased 1 stitch at the center back every 4 rows until 60 stitches remained
- Knit 14 total repeats of lace on the leg
- Worked the foot over 57 stitches to ensure a snug fit
- Added 2 more plain rows and 1 more K2Tog row to the end of the toe to lengthen the sock
I’ve been working on a variety of projects lately.
First up is the Spiraling Master Coriolis pattern from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One. I’m using Socks that Rock in the Chapman Springs colorway. It’s great to finally find a pattern that this color works with. I’ve tried it several times with other patterns, and it hasn’t matched up well. The sock has been a bit of a challenge. I’ve knit so many socks in the “traditional” fashion that it seems strange that the patterns will work as written. So far, I’ve made only one major mistake. I put the increase stitch marker at the wrong place, so I ended up with a straight line of knitting instead of a spiral. I didn’t like the way it looked, so I ripped back and knit it correctly. I’m at the end of the first sock, and just need to determine what cuff to put on this pair. I’d been thinking about a picot edge, but I may just make a plain ribbed cuff.
Also on the needles is a shawl, the Icarus Shawl from Interweave Knits. Right now, I’m nearing the end of the plain stockinette and eyelet rows that seem to go on forever. I’m starting to worry a bit about my yardage. Per the shawl calculator over at Rose-Kim Knits, I’ve completed 48% of the shawl. When I way the yarn, I have about 2.1 of 4 ounces remaining, or 52.5% of my yarn left to knit 52% of the shawl. This is going to cut it really close. If I’m off by only the tiniest bit, I might run out of yarn in the final rows. It would be so heartbreaking to have to rip back half of the shawl because I ran out of yarn.
I didn’t check Ravelry before I purchased the yarn. The pattern originally called for 875 yards, so I thought I’d be fine with 1000 yards. However, the pattern on Ravelry calls for 875-1200 yards because a lot of people have run short when knitting the shawl. The designer now calls for 1100 yards to be enough yarn for the majority of knitters. Since I’m using a hand-dyed yarn, I don’t want to risk ordering more and having it be a drastically different shade. For now, Icarus is sitting in the corner while I decide what to do.
The good news about these two projects is that they gave me a chance to use my new stitch markers. I purchased the big beads while I was in Prague, with the intent of someday making myself some stitch markers. I never got around to it. But, recently, Allison started making and selling stitch markers, and she was nice enough to turn my beads into stitch markers for me.
It’s hard to capture their sparkly orange-ness, but I love them.
Things around here have been crazy for the last month, and I think it will only continue. Most days I barely feel as if there is time to knit, let alone blog about it.
I’ve currently got Nancy Bush’s Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern [Ravelry Link] from Knitting Vintage Socks on the needles. I’m using the Trekking XXL in color 69. The yarn has such an interesting color quality. While working on it indoors, it’s a fairly boring brown/green tonal striped sock, just like in the photo below. However, when I was knitting in the sunlight on a plane recently, I couldn’t believe it was the same yarn. The colors were so vivid – especially a beautiful purple.
I’ve shortened the ribbing and cast on fewer stitches in order to fit the pattern to my sizing, and so far it’s going well. I’m through the gussest on the first sock, and a few inches remain until I start the toe. The pattern is simple to memorize, but a little more interesting than just 2×2 ribbing or stockinette. I hope to finish sock one this weekend and start on sock two soon.
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