Damselfly Socks - One Sock Done!

I came down with some sort of bug over the weekend, so took most of yesterday off and finished up the first sock.  It was not without its adventures.  First there was the heel chart.  The way the stitches are worked on the cuff you start with the instep stitches, so when you get to the part where you need to start working the heel flap you have just finished knitting the stitches on the back of the leg.  It is implied from the instructions that you start working the heel stitches with a right side row, but that means that you need to work across the instep stitches first, which is not mentioned.  In addition, the chart for the heel stitches has all of the row numbers on the right hand side of the chart, as it would be if you were knitting that chart in the round, instead of back and forth as required.  It was also stated in the instructions that you need to slip the first stitch of each row, but that was not reflected in the chart.

I decided to start with a wrong side row on the heel stitches, just turning my work and starting the chart.  I also only worked 31 rows, instead of 32 so that I would end after working a wrong side row, as required.  The instructions for row 2 of turning the heel also seemed a bit off to me when I started working it, so I used the instructions for the small size.

When I pick up stitches for the gusset I always just pick up as many as I can (ignoring the instructions) to ensure that there are no holes and then decrease them away as appropriate.  I did consider decreasing even further, down to 66 stitches, as without the cables to pull the knitting in I was a little concerned that the sock might end up a tad loose on my foot.  In the end I kept the 70 stitches and it all worked out fine.  

My next little hiccup was when I got to the toe decreases, the pattern instructions are definitely wrong there - they don’t have any decreases for the instep stitches, at all.  With this pair of socks I also decided to do the toes a little different.  Instead of symmetrical decreases I decided to work the decreases to match the actual slope of my toes.  I totally free styled the decreases, trying the sock on every other row to check what I was doing, but did write them down so that I can replicate them on my right sock.  I also did the Kitchener stitch grafting while I was wearing the sock.  It was a tad awkward, but doing that let me snug the yarn right away and the tension of the graft came out perfect, without having to go back and snug the stitches with the darning needle afterwards, as did the fit of the sock.

I have already cast on the second sock.

Pattern:  Damselfly by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Kelpie Fibers Taliesin MCN Sock in Tara

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Damselfly Socks - One Cuff Done!

I have actually knit the cuff twice.  This pattern comes in two sizes, small (8 inch circumference) and large (10 inch circumference).  Based on the fit of the Danube sock I decided to start out with the small size, which has you cast on 66 stitches (I cast on 68 stitches for my Danube socks - with my modifications).  I used a single circular needle for the first cuff, which meant that I could not try it on as I was knitting.  When I finished the cuff I discovered that it was tight and hard to get on and off my foot.  I should have realized that with all of the cable stitches it would come out tighter.  So, I ripped it all out and started over again with the large size, which has you cast on 70 stitches.  It is still snug, but it is easier to get on and off.  As a side note, I don’t see how casting on an extra 4 stitches is going to get you from an 8 inch circumference to a 10 inch circumference.  This time I knit on two circular needles, my favored sock knitting set up.  When I got to the section that has cable stitches that required a stitch from each needle I shifted that stitch to the other needle, shifting it back when I had completed all four of those cables.

Pattern:  Damselfly by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Kelpie Taliesin Sock in Tara

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Iris Hues Lampy - Half Way There!

I reached the half-way point last week.  I will reverse the short row shaping at this point.  For the first half you work short rows starting at the bottom of the wedge, knitting to the wrapped stitch and then knitting four more stitches before wrapping and turning.  On the second half I’ll knit almost to the end of the row - to the last four stitches - and then work progressively shorter rows, making sure I have three stitches between the wrapped stitches.  I’m happy with how things are turning out.  The fabric is nice, and I think the size is going to be perfect.

Pattern:  Lampy by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Superwash Merino Sport

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Damselfly Socks - Cast On!

Fortunately this skein of yarn did not get damaged by the carpet beetles, so I was able to use it for the Damselfly socks, which is a beautiful pattern.  Curiously I do not have it in electronic form, when I looked in the Art & Sole patterns in my Ravelry library it is not there.  The cuff design for this one is a bit complex, being two damselflies.  Given the way the chart is laid out I decided to work the cuffs on a single circular, in this case an 8 inch HiyaHiya needle.  I wanted to be able to use knitCompanion for the chart so I recreated the chart with my Stitchmastery charting program, and created a chart for the complete cuff, front and back.  As I was working the cuff, I did make one modification.  There is a stitch combination, where you knit, yarn over, knit in a stitch on one row, and then combine those stitches together again in the next row with a central double decrease.  I found that stitch combination a royal pain to work.  Looking at the picture of the sock on the pattern it appears that whoever made the sample worked those stitches rather loosely, so it looks sort of like a bobble.  I did not like that look, it just looks sloppy to me, so instead I replaced the increase stitch with a bead, and replaced the decrease with a plain knit.  For the beads I picked some from my bead stash that blend in with the yarn, rather than popping.  I like the way it looks. 

The only downside to working on a single needle is that I can’t try it on until I split the stitches for the heel, but I do like working on a single needle for the cuff, especially with this pattern.  Cable stitches on a sock cuff are a bit fiddly, especially when you have twisted stitches, but not so fiddly that I’m not enjoying it.

Pattern:  Damselfly by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Kelpie Fibers Taliesin MCN Sock in Tara

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

 

Danube Socks - Finished!

The second sock went quickly.  I typically do not have second sock syndrome.  Once I get one finished I typically knit the second one up right away, buoyed by my success with the first one.  I’m not really sure why I abandoned them the first go around ten years ago, but I’m glad that I finished them.  I am also glad that I recharted everything, even though I had the file electronically and had created the project in knitCompanion, I like my charts better.  I could have done some things in knitCompanion with the original charts to create cuff charts for the front and the back, but with my adding some ribbing to make them fit better I really needed to recreate the charts.  Each of these club patterns came with both a sock and a shawl or scarf pattern, and in the past I have used the club yarn for the sock and stash dived for the other pattern.  I do have the scarf that came with these socks in progress, and may get back to it at some point, but that yarn cake looks like it took some bug damage as well, and I haven’t check it out yet.

This photo was taken right after joining the toes and weaving in the ends.  You can see just a little bit of Jezebel in the upper right corner, curled up on the Comfort Blanket, which she has claimed as her own.

Pattern:  Danube by Janel Laidman

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Yarn:  Dirty Water DyeWorks Lillian in Sea

 

Iris Hues Lampy - Six Wedges Done!

I am still making steady progress on my Lampy.  The knitting is fun and easy, and I love the colors.  I’m almost done with the seventh wedge.  I love the sheen of the Luster Sport, and it has a nice drape, even though I am keeping my knitting fairly tight.  I am toying with working a crochet edging on the bottom, but using contrasting colors, just for fun, but we will see how much yarn I have left over after working the shawl.

Pattern:  Lampy by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Superwash Merino Sport

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Danube Socks - One Sock Done!

I finished up the first sock this past Monday.  After all of my previous attempts, this time went well and very quickly.  An interesting fact that I discovered when I got to the foot is that, according to the pattern, the foot has 66 stitches, whereas the cuff has 60.  I suppose that because the foot, per the pattern, is ribbed everywhere outside of the pattern panel on the top of the foot, the extra stitches don’t matter from a fit perspective.  My sock foot has 68 stitches, 33 stitches on the top and 35 stitches on the bottom, which is the same stitch count as what I have in the cuff.  You can see the extra stitches that I added into the pattern in the top photo - the column of twisted stitches that goes from the cuff down to the column of twisted stitches that delineate the decrease line on the top of the foot.  Those extra stitches are mirrored on the back of the leg.

My heel flap has 35 stitches, and when I turned the heel I worked 23 stitches in row 1, and then followed the pattern directions for the wrap and turn rows.  I picked up 19 stitches on the gussets and decreased 1 stitch on each gusset on the first round to make sure I did not have a little hole where the gusset joins the top of the foot.  I kept the heel turn stitches in stockinette, so the sole of the foot is in stockinette as I didn’t think I wanted to walk on ribbing (this was a tip I picked up from one of the finished projects on Ravelry).  As I worked the gusset decreases on the top of the foot, per the pattern, I shifted stitches from the bottom foot needle to the top needle to keep the 33 stitch count on the top of the foot.  After all of the decreases I had 33 stitches on the top of the foot and 35 stitches on the bottom of the foot.  I continued with this stitch count until I reached the decreases for the toe, at which point I did a set of decreases on the sole, where the stockinette meets the ribbing, to get to 33 stitches on both needles.  I kept all stitches in the established pattern as I decreased to the toe.

I have already started the second sock and am almost done with the cuff.

My go to method for knitting socks is to use two 16 inch circular needles.  These are Knit Picks needles, which have a nice flexible cord and sharp tips.  I have a bunch of these in the small sizes used for socks.  After I finish this pair of socks I will continue working through the Art & Sole patterns, which were for the knitterati sock club 2012.  Three of the five skeins of the club yarn that was sitting out for a decade are a total loss, but I have plenty of sock yarn in my stash, plus the extra skeins of this sock yarn that I bought to get the free shipping, so I have plenty to pick from.  The next pattern I am going to work is the Dragonfly socks, and I think that club yarn is going to be okay.  Curiously, I only have a paper pattern for that one, I do not have an electronic copy in my Ravelry library, although I have the others.  For the cuffs of those socks I am going to try out my ChiaoGoo mini needles with the short cables so that I can work the cuff on a single needle in the round, given the patterning, which is quite extraordinary.

Pattern:  Danube by Janel Laidman

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Yarn:  Dirty Water DyeWorks Lillian in Sea

Iris Hues Lampy - Five Wedges Done!

So this is a super fun easy pattern and I really love the colors.  I wasn’t too sure about that darkest color, but I think it all works.  Those folks at Expression Fiber Arts are pretty color savvy!  The wedges work up quickly and are TV and book knitting, which is great, as this is the project that I take to work for meetings, training, and reading documents.  I think the size will be good, not too big (some of the shawls these days are ginormous!), not too small.

Pattern:  Lampy by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Superwash Merino Sport

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Danube Socks - One Cuff Done!

What an ordeal this sock has been!  The first in progress one damaged beyond repair by carpet beetles (that’s what I get for letting it sit around for a decade!), and then started over five more times.  The first time was when I added extra stitches to get a better fit but kept the same needle size and ended up way too big.  The second and third times I went down a needle size and added the extra stitches (cast on 78 and 80, respectively), and then ran into trouble when I got to the pattern and was trying to figure out how to work the extra stitches in, partly because you don’t have the same number of stitches for the front and the back, there is one more for the back.  The fourth time I decided to go back to the original needle size and cast on the number of stitches called for in the pattern, but I also decided to try the two at a time magic loop method.  Ugh, that was fiddly, even after I had worked a few rows and I felt like I was spending too much time adjusting the cord and shifting things, so back to the frog pond I went.

I then decided to add some extra stitches back in, but use the needle size called for in the pattern, so I sat down with my graph paper to figure out the best way to do that.  In the end I added extra ribbing between the motifs on each side, but did not add any extra stitches on the edges (between the front stitches and the back stitches).  I added four stitches to the front and four stitches to the back, a purl and a ktbl between the first and second motif and the second and third motif.  I also redid the charts in my Stitchmastery program, and when I did that I discovered a few things.  The printed chart for the top of the foot did not have the decrease stitches, it had ktbl instead, and the cuff chart row numbering indicated that not as many rows of the ribbing should be worked.  The chart for the top of the foot was correct in the PDF.  The instructions had you repeat row 3 20 times, but the row number of the row following row 3 (both printed and in the PDF) was 10, and I had decided that 22 rows of this ribbing was excessive (after working it 4 times!), and decided to only work 12 rows of ribbing before starting the pattern, which had the happy side effect of avoiding the fit problem on my muscular calves.  I did up the full chart for both the front and the back (33 stitches for the front, and 35 stitches for the back) and combined the top foot chart in with the front chart so it is all together.  That was another thing that was bugging me about the pattern, the cuff chart was only over 20 stitches, so keeping track of the pattern as you went around the cuff was a little bit of a headache, especially as you don’t have the same number of stitches on the front and the back.

Now, on to working the heel and figuring out the construction of the rest of the sock.  Hopefully I won’t have to frog again.

Pattern:  Danube by Janel Laidman

Yarn:  Dirty Water DyeWorks Lillian in Sea

Needle:  US 1.5 (2.5 mm)

Iris Hues Lampy - Three Wedges Done!

I had finished up the second wedge and was working the transition to the third color when I decided to check my yarn usage and make some decisions about how I was going to proceed with the shawl.  I quickly realized that if I worked all of the rows called for in the Speckles section that I would have enough yarn to work three wedges of each color, but not four, and three wedges does not really lend itself to symmetry.  So, I ripped right back to the first Speckles section and decided to work only one repeat of the eight rows, instead of the called for three repeats.  By reducing the number of rows in the Speckles section I brought the yarn usage down to about 24 grams for each wedge plus color transition, so now I can easily work four sets of wedges.  I will continue working in this color order for the first two sets of wedges, then I will work a Speckles section with the yellow, just for a nice pop of color, and reverse the colors for the second half.  I will also reverse the short row shaping so everything will be symmetric.  Once I get done with all of the wedges I will decide how I want to go about finishing the shawl.  I may still work the I-cord tie, but if I do I will pick up stitches along the entire neck edge, instead of just attaching it at the start and finish.  And maybe I’ll do a little crochet border on the bottom.  We’ll see.

Pattern:  Lampy by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Superwash Merino Sport

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Iris Hues Lampy - Two Wedges Done!

I have now started this shawl three times.  The first time I did not read the instructions carefully and actually ended up swapping the right and wrong sides, as seen in the picture below.

The second time I ended up changing my tension partway through the first wedge, which was noticeable (as can be seen in the photo below), and the more I worked, the more I noticed, and the more I preferred the tighter gauge.

So, I ripped it all out again and started over one more time, and I’m much happier with the result.  I also decided to do the wrap and turn short rows instead of the German Short Rows as I noticed an interesting artifact of the double stitch where it actually interrupted the garter stitch pattern.  The wrap and turns are barely noticeable and I thought they gave a nicer edge.  I also decided to slip the first stitch of every row purl wise with the yarn in front, and then take the yarn to the back between the first and second stitches.  This is a trick I learned on my Winter Wonderland shawl, and I love the edge it gives.  I was perplexed by the pattern switching the slipped stitch from the first stitch on the right side rows in the Wedge section to the first stitch of the wrong side rows in the Speckles section.  I do not know if it is an error, but it is certainly an inconsistency.  As I am slipping the first stitch at the beginning of all my rows it doesn’t matter to me.  When I’m working the Speckles, I take both strands to the back when I slip the first stitch, and then drop the one that I’m not working with (the Winter Wonderland trick).

Pattern:  Lampy by Janica York Carter

Yarn:  Expression Fiber Arts Luster Superwash Merino Sport

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)