It’s been almost 2 months since I cast on this lovely blue 4-ply sock yarn by West Yorkshire Spinners.
I’m feeling guilty about my lack of progress since then on socks for my DH. It’s been very cold here and he has nearly worn out all the other socks I’ve knit for him.
In early January I picked this project up again and I hope that they’ll be finished soon.
This photo shows the toe-up method using two size one needles. Gauge is about 12 rows per inch. Because the stitches are so small, I find it difficult to work on this in low light.
But Ta-Da! I have one completed sock.
Today I worked on sock 2 during Westham United’s game against Darby. At the whistle, I had completed another 1 and 1/2 inches on the foot section. I’m hopeful that cast-off will take place before another week has passed by.
Fresh off the blocking mat and slipped across my shoulders, here is my version of Kate Oates’ Cardi Vest. Although it’s cold here in Oklahoma, my dear husband agreed to a quick photo shoot in the backyard.
In this image two changes that I made to pattern are visible: the lower body is knit in a baby eyelet rib instead of a twisted rib and I substituted a stranded pattern of my own design on the yoke.
It took some extra time to work out and knit this pattern based on a daisy. Here on the back you can see how many yarn ends resulted from this small square of stranded work – a lot!
Despite the griping I did about picking straw out of this yarn as I worked it, now that it is washed, blocked and dried, the yarn is rather magnificent. The 100% wool in a thick and thin worsted weight made by Ewetopia is every bit as warm as I thought it would be. The fibers bloomed into a nice loft and stitches evened out and locked into place. I must be careful in future launderings about its propensity to felt.
Because I intend to sew in a zipper by hand, I cast off the neckline with the I-cord method. But so far, I haven’t located a separating zipper in the length and color required. Until I do, I’ll wear the vest open.
The hood is a fun feature that took up an entire ball of yarn. I hope that it stays on my head in the Oklahoma wind.
I rate the pattern as suitable for an intermediate knitter. Here is a link to it on Ravelry.
Those expecting to see a Finished Object today will be disappointed. No, I am out of sorts and out of sequence in writing this post. Instead, I will start with the above photo and move on to share a little design process for a knitted garment in progress.
During our travels over Thanksgiving week, I visited a new-to-me yarn store. It was little but crammed full of beautiful yarns. I was surprised and delighted to find a yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners. It is their Signature 4-ply fingering yarn spun with 35% Bluefaced Leicester wool. I had read about this British yarn maker in posts by my knitterly on-line friends. To find a source of this well-crafted fiber in the heart of the U S of A was unexpected. Even more so because of the price – only $13 US for a 100g ball. As you can see, I wasted no time in getting a swatch made.
The yarn will be made into a pair of socks for my husband. He highly approves of the color, which corresponds to one of his team’s colors. (He supports Westham United, “the Hammers,” who play in claret and blue.)
The design work I refer to is for the little green vest I started on October 17th.
Notice the stranded colorwork on the shoulders. The chart provided by the designer is perfectly fine, but I was not in the mood for snowflakes. Instead, I wanted something a little bit floral and seized on this opportunity to design my own chart.
The yarns I pulled from my stash were cream, lavender and deep pink. These will show up well against the dark cool green main color. My new design starts with a pattern called Michaelmas, which somewhat resembles a purple coneflower. This motif went into the center of the design. Next I needed a border. Working in the same number of rows as the one in the pattern, I drew a sort-of zig zag, worked in a few more flowers and then added some sprinkled stitches of cream.
Reasonably satisfied with my chart, I proceeded to swatch it. Ultimately there were a few modifications made to the design as I knitted along. Here is what I came up with:
The design was tweaked slightly as I worked it into the left shoulder.
You will see it soon. With that bit of knitting done, finishing the body of the vest won’t take long.
The fourth and final pair of socks worked to fulfill my sock challenge posed in July is now complete. You see before you a triumphant stack of socks.
The final pair is second from the top in the photo. Made from Wisco sock yarn by Ewetopia in a colorway called Caterpillar, the pair are earmarked for my grandson. He participated in choosing color, yarn and pattern, so I will assume the gift will be welcomed by him. The question is, will they fit?
I know that his arch is slightly wider, and his foot is slightly longer than mine. At least that was true when I measured his foot last July.
These fit me nicely but have plenty of stretch left and a little more room in the toe.
I knit these socks using two 16-inch cable needles in size 1. They were made toe up, using the turkish cast-on. The bind off was Jeny’ surprisingly stretchy 1×1 rib bind off. I enjoyed using this method so much I will likely forsake my double-point sock needles for good.
I am underway with the fourth and final pair of socks in my sock marathon challenge. This post was meant to happen last Monday. But in the days approaching that day, I experienced an unexpected and somewhat distressing set-back.
The pattern I have selected is Yamadori, designed by Ema Marinescu for Knitty.com
The troubles began when I (belatedly) read the pattern through for the first time. I had assumed that the texture was created by a few slipped stitches and maybe a purl or two. I was wrong. Here is what the designer said: “The simple travelling stitches worked on the instep and leg create a fun texture that will keep you entertained from start to finish.”
Not this knitter. I was inexperienced in performing the maneuver to make a traveling stitch. I spent a few hours viewing U-tube videos on the myriad ways to make a left-leaning traveling stitch. I then spent more hours fumbling with my yarn and needles.
The tension started in my shoulders and moved both up and down my spine. Eventually I had completed several rows of the texture and acheived a massive headache.
I put down my needles and tried to get on with my life. Stress plagued me all day. The wind howling out of the southwest for the next 24 hours exacerbated my tension, leading to feelings of impending doom. How it is possible for a knitting project to give me an anxiety attack?
The next day, I picked up my knitting, stared at it, and knew that there was only one cure:
FROGGING:
Realizing that the pattern would work just fine in plain knitting and would let the crazy stripes shine on their own, I began again from the toe and kept going. Here is my progress for this week.
Let me give some credit to this wonderful yarn by Ewetopia – Wisco Sock. The colorway is Caterpillar.
Daily Fiber 