As The Yarn Turns

Still Sock Knitting

I've been diverted into sewing up another cloth for a magic illusion. That means my knitting time will be diverted for a day or so until I'm done. I would much rather be knitting. At least I've made a little bit of progress on the Gentleman's Socks.

Some good news is that the Christmas tree and all other Christmas decorations have finally been taken down. I know. I know. We're a little late. We got the outside decorations down on New Year's Day. It's the inside decorations that seem to cause a problem every year. The ferrets are a little sad to see it go but I'm just happy to have my spinning wheel back in its spot. No matter how hard I search for Christmas decorations before putting the boxes away, there's always at least one little decoration that escaped being put away. So I end up having to either pull the decoration boxes out again or I toss it in a drawer where I find it in July. At least I should be able to get some spinning time in now.

Oh yeah, knitting. While we were at Hancock Fabrics getting some suitable fabric for the illusion, I noticed these giant balls of yarn for $10, mostly furry yarns, ladder yarns, and glitter yarns. When we went to purchase our fabric, the sales lady offered us one for $5. Now if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I don't often buy yarns like that. I couldn't help myself though. So for $5 I ended up with 255 yards of a furry yarn. Course that's probable 200 more yards than I need.

Actually I wanted to try it with some freeform knitting. These balls of yarn are actually marketed as beginner knitting kits that include a "how to knit" DVD. I haven't watched the DVD yet so I can't say what the quality is like. Strangely enough though, they don't include knitting needles. We'll see how I like knitting with it. Hey if nothing else it will make a great cat toy. (Just Kidding)

Oh, in the comments, Chris mentioned that there is also a UFOlympics being set up where you try to finish a UFO during the Olympics. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do, if anything, but that's a good possibility too.

Off to do some sewing.

by Sydney  |

Man Socks Continued

I'm feeling better about Rick's Socks, the Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch. Mostly because I'm past the decreases now, so I can knit without the instructions for a while. That should be almost mindless knitting. The socks still look big to me but they are going faster now that I'm in my groove. Plus the amount of yarn is still holding up. Just for my own piece of mind, I might see if I can buy another ball of yarn. I haven't decided yet. I'm starting to like the yarn and pattern more as I get further along. The yarn seems softer now. Maybe I just got spoiled from knitting with the Bearfoot yarn. (I can hear that other skein calling me again.) Anyway, here's where we are now.

Also be warned that I keep calling it railroad stitch instead of railway stitch. So if you see me say railroad stitch, just assume I meant railway stitch. Chris asked me what I meant by "wonky" stitches in my last entry. Every now and then there's a stitch that looks too big. They're not twisted and they haven't been accidentally slipped. I finally decided these were stitches I had reworked because I had knit when I should have purled or I split a stitch or something similar. In the process it got stretched a bit and hasn't bounced back. So I'm hoping that everything will even out when it's washed and blocked.

I'm dying to enter the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. I promised myself that I would finish a few things first though. Plus sometimes I'm lucky to finish a scarf in 16 days much less something challenging. I also promised myself I would knit with yarn in my stash for a while before I bought more, well unless I buy more yarn for the husband's socks. I'm sure I could come up with something if I really set my mind to it. I'll think on it a bit. If you haven't already entered, though, hop on over.

Off to knit...

by Sydney  |