crafty slacker, or slacky crafter?

Toronto Craft Alert is having an awesome contest for people like me, who start too many projects and have lots of unfinished business lying around. It's called The Crafty Slacker's Get 'Er Done Giveaway and the prize pack is over the top in looty goodness! Go, check it out, I'll wait here.

OK, hopefully you came back. Or maybe you'll finish reading this post and then go check out the prize pack. :)

I have several entries... remember the work socks? I finished knitting them a year ago, but they have been languishing in the unfinished pile because there are a million ends to weave in. There is self-striping sock yarn for a reason.



My next entry is yet another pair of socks. (why do I keep knitting socks? I don't finish them, and when I do, I hardly wear them and the moths eat them) Anyway, these babies ended up a little too short, so I ripped back the toe of one sock and re-knit it so that it fit. The mate? Still too short. Still waiting for corrective action so that it will match the length of the sock that fits. Sigh.



Item number three is the Condo Sweater. I didn't blog about this one very much. I used one of my grandmother's patterns from the 80's. I crocheted it, sewed it up, washed it, and decided the fit wasn't great. The neckline is too loose and slides off my shoulder - which would be OK if I wanted an off-the-shoulder sweater, but... that's not what I want. All I need to do is tighten up the neckline by one inch on each side. Can I do it by March 16???



My last Get 'Er Done project is also the oldest. It's a bellydance costume that I bought in 2007. There are missing sequins that need to be replaced and hooks to be added (so that I can actually wear it). This baby is a long shot for the giveaway. I have the supplies, but where is the motivation?



Wish me luck! And go enter the contest!!

cobblestone socks

I started these socks way back in June as part of the For the Love of Socks KAL. It's my first time doing 2 socks at once using Magic Loop (one loooooong circular needle).


I love the yarn and the pattern is interesting, but it's just been slow going. I wasn't too motivated to knit wool socks in the summer! But when I took my mom to her doctor's appointments in July and August, I brought the socks with me and made some progress.


Only the foot to go! And then they'll BOTH be finished. No second-sock-syndrome.

Pattern: Menehune Cobblestone Socks by Adrienne Fong
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Sock 2/6 in Pinata
Needles: 2 mm metal circulars

Oh yes, I noticed that one sock is more pink than the other... oh well.

finally, a finished object - socks!

Here are the 2 socks on 2 circs in their completed state! (sorry for the lousy photos - the flash on my camera is terrible, and I didn't adjust them at all before uploading to Flickr.)

After I took the photos, I decided that they were a bit too short, so I undid a few rows and re-knit the toe to give me some extra length. Technically these are not a "finished object" since I still have to fix the other sock! Once they are truly finished and ready to wear, I will take some nicer pictures.

Details....

Pattern: Ladies Simple Sock on 2 Circular Needles by Caryn Lantz (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Lang Yarns Super Soxx in 6365
Started: February 2008
Finished: June 2008
My project page on Rav

knit pics!

I promised to post on the weekend, and now it's Monday, but that's OK right? Better late than never.

I am on the gusset decreases. On Friday, after I added the post below, I picked up the gusset stitches fairly successfully, but on one sock the heel and gusset stitches were all together and on the other sock, half the gusset stitches were on the heel needle and the other half on the instep needle. Not a crisis - there were no lost stitches, the socks were not ruined, I didn't have to frog - but I decided to skip yoga class on Sunday morning and transfer the stitches so all gusset stitches were on the heel needle. Knitting trumps yoga. (and it was a pain in the arse to transfer the stitches! slip stitches to other needle, then move to spare needle, then back to first needle, oops I need to knit some of those stitches so move them back. yeesh)

Anyway, the socks are all sorted, they look good, I'm happy. Only the foot to go!

p.s. I have another gifty project on the go that I would love to post about, but I can't in case the recipient sees the blog. So go to Ravelry to check it out.

the gusset can be a real heel.

I have knit the heel flap and turned the heels on the Two Socks on Two Circulars. Turning the heels required some patience - first, I didn't realize that I had to do one sock at a time; second, I forgot that I had cast on fewer stitches and didn't adjust the pattern accordingly. There was a bit of tinking back and trying again before I got it.

Now I'm stuck at picking up the gusset stitches... last night I had no idea which needle to use to do this. Well, actually, the pattern does say to pick up the gusset stitches with needle 1 then transfer half the heel stitches to needle 2, but does that include the gusset? What about the other side of this sock? and the other sock? Wha? The pattern doesn't have a lot of instructions on two circ technique, so I turned to the Internet to find my answers: again, I should have been doing one sock at a time and now I might have to juggle the stitches on the two needles (or rather, 4 needles and 2 cables); I can keep the gusset stitches on the same needle as the heels; plus I saw some examples which makes it easier to visualize what it is I'm supposed to do.

Now to get knitting! Pics will be posted this weekend.

sockdarnit!

A bunch of my hand knit socks had holes in them, due to those pesky moths. After reading a bunch of posts on Ravelry about darning technique, I sat down with my needle and got to work.

Not great looking, but not too bad either. At least the yarn matches.

These socks were hiding in the stash pile, and had holes before I'd even worn them!! Luckily the holes were small and easy to fix.

This giant combination of holes intimidated me, though, and I haven't tried to tackle it yet.

It requires more than darning: cutting out the stitches and knitting a patch. I'm not ready for that quite yet.

turkish cast on.

I'm bookmarking this so that I can use it for my next pair of socks:

Turkish Cast On Tutorial from misocrafty.

Found via the Sock Knitters group on Ravelry.

good friday.


Some progress on the For the Love of Socks KAL: 2 socks on 2 circs. I think I'm the only person who started the KAL... oh well, it's slow going so I'm sure the others will catch up to me once they start! I've been sick and watching a lot of TV and thus getting some knitting done, although I feel pretty gross from all the bad TV!


I had ripped out my first attempt at these socks because they were too big. I made sure to line up the stripes properly this time, and cast on 56 stitches instead of 60. 52 would probably be better but I was afraid of them being too small. It will be interesting to see how the heel will go! (I haven't read ahead in the pattern. It will be a surprise!)

sock kal started.


I have started my two socks on two circs for the For the Love of Socks knitalong. I ordered the yarn and needles from Red Bird Knits. Unfortunately, only one of the sets of circular needles was in stock, and I'm still waiting on the second set. I was eager to start the kal though, so I cast on with my new 2.25 mm bamboo needles and my old 2.5 mm metal ones. Who's going to notice a 0.25 mm difference? It was actually better to have two different needles because the first time casting on for two socks on two circs was a bit confusing. When the new needles arrive I will swap them in.

The yarn is Lang Super Soxx in a red multi. I tried to line up the stripes and took great care to cast on at the beginning of a white section... too bad the white section on one ball was half as long as the white section on the other ball! Grr. But I couldn't be bothered to redo it. Matching the stripes is not that important to me.

sock kal starts on monday.

Two posts in one day? Hell yeah. It's feast or famine with my blogging.

I am sooooo excited to be start my first knitalong with the For the Love of Socks yahoo group. We are knitting 2 socks at once on 2 circular needles. No more second sock syndrome! (if only they were toe-up... next time) I took the opportunity to do a little online shopping, since I don't have two matching sets of circs, and bought a few skeins of sock yarn too. Nothing crazy. It was my first online shopping experience and it sure was easy! And not as guilt-inducing as shopping in person. Weird, non? I love browsing and fondling the yarn in shops, but the purchasing part can be stressful. Maybe because it's so hard to decide what to buy! Anyway, I am looking forward to receiving my package in the mail.

knitting pics!

Work socks

Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern
Yarn: Patons Kroy socks in Norfolk Blue and Krazy Stripes
Needles: 3 mm dpns
Started: December 26, 2007
Completed: January 25, 2008

I still need to weave in all those ends... can I still call it a FO?

knit.1 jumper

This photo is terrible - it doesn't reflect the true colour of the yarn, which is a mottled olive-y green, which I quite like. This looks like barf. You can see the pooling in the yarn, WTF?! Hopefully it's not too noticeable when I wear it.

The pattern is from knit.1 magazine Summer 07. Yarn is Lionbrand Homespun in Mediterranean. I knit most of it in the car on the way to Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday. Yay for road trip knitting!

first FO of 2008.

The work socks are done! I finished knitting them today at lunch. I still have to weave in all of those ends (ugh) and block them... one sock looks quite a bit larger than the other! Hopefully it all comes out in the wash, so to speak. Pics to come.

De-stashing news: I don't have a huge stash, but I do have a lot of acrylic yarn. It's not good stuff, and I don't really want it around but didn't know what to do with it. Thanks to Ravelry, I have some options for de-stashing, in a charitable fashion! The CAMH is looking for yarn donations for their craft group, and a woman in Nunavut put out a call for baby hats and blankets for her local hospital. I look forward to sorting through my yarn bins and bags and letting some stuff go. Unfortunately it will be next week, as I'm going to Michigan this weekend for a family function. I hope to get a lot of knitting done on the 6-hour drive, if I don't get carsick. :)

updates.

• I was not selected to be a juror. My panel was called for two cases, but my name did not come up for either of them. Phew!
  
• The Jury Frivolity hat is knitted - I just about finished it while at the courthouse and knit the last two rows at home. Now I just have to sew it up... that may take a while. :)
• Work socks will see some action today. I brought them to the office to knit on lunch break.
• The secret gifty project has been cast off!!! (but I haven't cut the yarn yet)
• I cast on the knit.1 tunic first mentioned here. My gauge is off so cross your fingers.
• Caffeine cutback is coming along. I'm going VERY slowly. First I just cut back to one cup of coffee in the morning. I did that for about a week and a half. Now I'm starting to mix decaf into my coffee grounds, about one third decaf, two thirds regular. The first day was OK, but subsequent days have found me a bit sluggish. (I'm on day four.) I would like to use a grain coffee substitute as suggested here but haven't been to a store that carries it yet.
  
• I bought a new bellydancing costume yesterday! It's an Indian-style skirt and halter top, so not a "real" costume, but I think it will do nicely for the performing opportunities that may be coming up this summer. Something casual but still shiny and festive.
  

cheating on the work socks.


I have been working on the work socks not at work. I took them home and have been knitting the second sock while relaxing on the couch. Yes, it's cheating, but I didn't have time to knit them at work! The second sock would never be finished! So now there is some progress.

sock kal #2.

I've just joined the Sock It To 'Em Knitalong

Woo hoo! Bring on the socks! (uh, no progress to report on the work socks)

work sock update.

I cast on for the work sock mate and knit the first stripe, but that's it so far. The idea is to knit it only while at work (it is a "work" sock, after all) but I haven't had time until today. Hmmm. Perhaps I got too excited by the fast progress on the first sock! The second one may take a while to finish....

sock kal.

I have recently joined the For_The_Love_Of_Socks yahoo group. Welcome to any members that have found their way here!

Looking forward to the first sock knitalong - the question is, do I knit the beginner or experienced pattern?

I think I will take the challenge and go for the experienced option. Wish me luck!

pics!

The progression of work sock #1....

December 27 - after the first day

December 28 - after the second day

December 31 - after the third day - finished!

Hanging in front of the computer as I update the blog

Back at home and bound off... but look at all those ends!

Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern
Yarn: Patons Kroy socks in Norfolk Blue and Krazy Stripes
Needles: 3 mm dpns

sock notes.

A few notes for myself so that the 2nd sock matches the 1st. I might forget what I did!

- cast on 24 stitches (total circumference is 48 sts.)
- after the short-row toe is complete, knit one row in navy before starting the stripes
- 6 rows per stripe
- heel: knit 3 rows in navy, work short-row heel, knit another 3 rows in navy before striping
- cuff: knit one row in navy, work k2p2 for 12 rows
- bind off using EZ stretchy sewn cast-off

photos?

The photos are on their way. I had a very busy weekend with J&A's wedding and related events, including a visit to the mall (during Boxing week!) to find dress pants for T-man and heels for me.

I didn't make a ton of progress on the work sock on Friday but I *may* get it finished today! And then I can post the entire photo series tonight, instead of partying for New Year's Eve. (not really joking about that either)