KAL = Knit-along; ILL = Inter-library Loan. No, we’re not sick (hurray! Thank you, Lord).
The Schoolhouse Press knitalong (link here) has moved from Iceland to the Faroe Islands, and from lace scarf to footlets. I began with a 2-color version, but switched over to solids to be quicker.
I have finished the blue footlet, edging it with gray, and began a gray foot to edge with blue (DS’s school colors). I also plan to embroider an owl (mascot) on each toe.
His feet are bigger than mine. . . .
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I love to borrow knitting books! When my libray doesn’t own a particular title, I can place an inter-library loan request for free. If they can find it, and the other library agrees, they get it for me. Recent titles include Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron, and Iris Schreier’s Reversible Knits. From the former, I knit this “rose” embellishment (about palm-size).
From the latter, I hope to try some cables.
Here’s another top-down cap, this time in Wisdom Yarn’s “Skye” bulky and using Judy’s Magic Cast-on. The yarn color-changes even look good inside out!
Most of my other knitting has been swatching for submissions to Cast On for next summer.
(I don’t want to show those yet.)
Sometimes this process is exhilarating, sometimes it’s plain frantic. It can be rewarding! Level II of the Master Knitter program prepared me for this quite well, I’m finding.
Next is a pair of toddler hats for our friends who are adopting.
Oh, and the sweater I designed for my friend Bess to knit for our pastor is done, in time for the cold weather. The yarn is a bit busy, so I only added a little cabling. Simultaneous set-in sleeves — fun!!
A stretchy Estonian cast-on for top-down socks, demonstrated by Nancy Bush for Knitting Daily TV. (Scroll down the target page a bit. It’s a nice read about Sock Summit.)
Your mailbox is full. Perhaps you’ll find this post.
Here are the yarns I’m considering for your next kilt hose, given your request for “muted” and these fabrics to match:
Which do you find most interesting? Blue-greens, Navies, then Browns, and finally Grays/Greys (the most muted color of all); plus there’s always ivory:
[The first/leftmost green is the one your current socks are made of, for comparison.]
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Below are some others that I’d have to special order, so I don’t have them here in person:
GEMS teal #54 - good match but too bright?
Satakieli #985
GEMS sage #50 - similar to Bruce's?
Satakieli #894
GEMS indigo #16 - discontinued but some still avlbl, dark navy
GEMS 56 navy
Gansey #502 navy
GEMS 57 French blue
GEMS 68 sleel blue
GEMS sandalwood #44
GEMS caribou #53 - grayer deep brown
GEMS pewter #43
GEMS charcoal #49
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[Notes on the 3 brands:
by increasing weight/thickness:
. Satakieli single (your current socks),
. GEMS sport,
. Quebecoise (the hanks with no labels),
. GEMS worsted,
. Satakieli doubled;
by increasing price and smoothness:
. Quebecoise,
. GEMS,
. Satakieli;
GEMS is machine-washable.]
The green-blues are all good matches to your kilts, but none are “muted” or subdued. I’m leaning toward navy or gray-blue or sage (gray-green).
I finished the mending I’ve been doing for Aaron Shaw. (Hurray!) His “back-up hose” are ready to mail back.
The workmanship on these, by Debra Gilding of D&D Natural Fiber Co., is awe-inspiring.
Would you believe you’re looking at a seam in the top sock?!
Here’s a summary of my own work on this second pair.
Heel #1, outside
Heel #1, inside
Toe #1, outside
Toe #1, inside
Heel #2, outside
This one nearly made me cry. See the center part where the reconstructed stitches are looser than the others, making it pucker out? Geez. I had thought the first part was maybe too tight and changed needles, but then the middle got too loose and I went back to tighter on the last part. Once it was all done and I saw that the difference was so visible. . . waah! I found I was unwilling to undo the work to change it — too many tucked (and trimmed) ends; I’d probably have to undo more stitches to get the ends long enough to tuck in again. Some of the joins of the new to the old fabric needed reinforcing (with nylon) as it is.
I’m hoping he’ll still be pleased that they’re sound and wearable again.
Heel #2, inside
Toe #2, outside
I varied the original techniques for this heel and this toe, trying to reduce the number of ends to tuck at the finish, like in Sock #1. For Heel #2 I still unraveled old stitches to get sound ones to join onto and ends to tuck, but I didn’t use separated strands for each row of new stitches. Toe #2 I did use separate new strands, but I didn’t unravel the old, I just overstitched several old stitches before beginning the patch. This was fastest, I think.
Toe #2, inside
For a final treat, here’s my Little Miss Adorable-when-she-naps.
I spent most of yesterday wrestling with iMovie, YouTube, Facebook, and CyberDuck. Here’s some of the fruit of that labor: a short (31 seconds) video clip from Sunday’s Celtic Festival in which Robert Watt pipes while wearing his new kilt hose. (He gave me permission to post this. Thanks to Nanette Blanchard for requesting it.)
This past week, I got to compare Robert Watt’s well-loved and well-worn kilt hose to the new pair I was in the process of making for him. Lots of measurements were taken.
The different stretchiness of the new ribs (purl vs seed) and the new yarn can be seen in the different widths of the 2 socks.
. . . Chloe has been finding the old socks *very* interesting, btw. . . .
Still, the piping went on. (Hooray!) So while I had both these pairs in my possession, Robert had to play in his “back-up” hose.
There have been a few times in this process that I’ve had to do this:
and then this:
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and then hold the mini-skein loops over a steaming kettle to de-kink them (amazing to watch!),
let cool, and knit on.
The Satakieli yarn held up quite well, even to this treatment.
His old pair were made with a worsted-weight yarn, and he wants his next pair also to be heavier than the first. I’m considering several possibilities: Satakieli held double, Louet Gems sportweight, Louet Gems worsted weight, and Guernsey sportweight wool. All are worsted-spun 100% wool and tightly-plied, for smoothness and durability. These qualities also make for excellent stitch-definition, should I decide to go into fancier textures. Waiting to hear from him on color-preference, and then . . . we shop!
We had our first fitting on Friday — checking lengths and snugness.
Front
Back
They need about 1″ more height, but no more (I had another pair of expert eyes to check for me — thanks Aaron). The toes could use a bit more room, but they’ll be OK if I don’t have time to get to them before next weekend when Robert goes back to Ireland. I think I’d make another pair a bit more roomy overall — my last pair (for myself) sagged in the legs and I didn’t want that to happen with these.
I’ve finished with all the calf-increases on piper Robert’s second sock — hurray!! Just the “work even” few inches and garter left to go.
Then the cuffs.
Or perhaps we’ll have the try-on first, then any alterations, and then the cuffs last of all. Partly depends on *when* I finish the socks-proper, as I’m expecting Robert and all the other bagpipe instructors to arrive in town on Sunday, 12th July. The following week, with all the lectures and concerts (I listen but don’t play, so I don’t take part in the classes), will be busy and exciting!
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The “mistake” of the title, you ask?
Examine the following close-up images:
You see the wide central V in the left photo?
Something’s missing. What happened to the wide-narrow-wide rhythm?
I had forgotten to make a certain few of those new (increased) stitches purls instead of knits. No wonder the central rib got so wide so soon — I knew something was amiss and finally realized what it was. Boy, am I glad I caught it!
I dropped down just the offending 4, and corrected them.
Can you see the “extra” V now, that wasn’t there before? And the 2 narrow ribs flanking it?
Phew!
Now, as for the cuffs. . .
My sampler is progressing. Different yarns, different stitch patterns, even some beading experiments along the way. (This is for now and for later.)
I didn’t enjoy the first (purple) one, worked side-to-side. Don’t know quite why. . . .
The top 2 are possibilities for the current pair: “ploughed field” (yellow) and an arrowhead pattern of slanting ribs (olive). Plus a few more I want to see before I make up my mind.
See how the stitch patterns affect the gauge: all 3 top bands are worked over 60 stitches in different colors of same yarn on same needles, but the white lace bulges out while the yellow slip-stitch-psso section pulls in. Ribs are in-between.
I finished the scarf in Twisted Fiber Art “Duchess” DK-weight yarn, colorway “Rodney”, and gave it to Julie (the woman who taught me to knit) for her church Craft Sale.
She was delighted! I always enjoy getting to visit with Julie. This time we talked about the (apparently dozens of) Ring-necked Doves that moved into our neighborhood this last year; a pair of them come often to my millet feeder and I see them perched atop our streetlamps. She says they came here from Kuwait by way of Los Angeles, blown in by a storm, and managed to survive the winter.
Yesterday, I turned the heel on Robert’s second sock and resumed in-the-round knitting.
Now, to check which round begins the ribbing. . . . Gotta match sock #1, and both gotta fit!
Most of my other knitting has been swatching for submissions to Cast On for next summer.
I finished the mending I’ve been doing for Aaron Shaw. (Hurray!) His “back-up hose” are ready to mail back.
and then this:
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Just the “work even” few inches and garter left to go.
Different yarns, different stitch patterns, even some beading experiments along the way. (This is for now and for later.)
