October socks

More than one person suggested I start a new pair of Good Juju socks for the Red Sox. Trust me, I've got that covered. Originally I had planned to start another pair of red socks for good luck but after giving it some thought I changed my mind. Instead of red socks, I started some October socks. The whole point of the very long baseball season is to make it until October. If you don't play well, you don't play in October at all. If you do play well, you play until the very end of October and, perhaps, even into the beginning of November

This Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn in Goldrush all but screams October to me. The pattern is Lichen Ribbed sock by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks. I followed the pattern as written and I really like the Welsh heel. It fits me surprisingly well. I altered the toe, however, to my standard round toe. I'm not about to begin the heel flap of the second sock.

The Red Sox can use any luck or mojo or prayers or charms that you have at your disposal for the next 40 hours or so. Do you think that's too long to keep your fingers crossed?

A pair of Juta's

Pattern: Juta's Stockings from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Times Remembered Nantucket Heather in Wild Strawberry
Needles: Size 1 (2.5 mm) Knit Picks circulars
Modifications: I used my regular round toe

I finished my Juta's Stockings yesterday and I must say I'm very pleased with them. The pattern was, of course, very well written and super easy to follow. After the first round it was very easy to memorize the pattern. The pattern on the leg is very similar to the Dublin Bay pattern and I like how these lacy panels work with an almost solid colored yarn.



Unlike Pat, my perfectionist side wasn't bothered in the least by the difference in the k2 togethers and the ssk. I think mine look equally neat. Instead, I was bothered by the difference in the size of the lacy holes on the foot portion. The holes were decidedly different after a k2 together than they were after a ssk. It drove me crazy. I'm sure you can't see it in the photo but trust me the holes are different.



Overall, however, I'm happy with the pattern. I think it makes a nice looking and nice fitting sock. The yarn I used is much different than my usual sock yarn. I bought it at NH Sheep and Wool for less than $4.00 a skein. It's 100% wool and is much more "rustic" than the luxury yarn I'm used to. It wasn't rough and it didn't have any debris in it. It was nicely spun and had no knots or slubs. After I got used to the rustic feel I really enjoyed this wooly feeling yarn. It's not the least bit itchy on the skin either. When I handwashed the socks yesterday, there was quite a bit of color in the wash water. I'm hoping this is a one time thing.

Now I'm gearing up for Summer of Socks which starts tomorrow. Although I had been planning to knit Brigit from Socktopia, I found that the yarn I wanted to use didn't match the gauge for the pattern. Rather than switch yarns I've switched patterns. I feel a little like a lemming but I'm going to knit Embossed Leaves from Favorite Socks with the Louet Gems I frogged from my failed Whitby. I'll get to Brigit another time.

First Juta's

If I never showed works in progress photos you'd see very little knitting on this blog. Here, then, is the beginning of my first Juta's Stocking from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia. One of my knitting goals for this year is to knit at least one Nancy Bush pattern from every one of her books that I own. This sock was in my queue and I was pretty excited when I saw that Pat was knitting the same socks. The pattern is very simple - much like the Dublin Bay pattern - and easy enough to memorize after the first pattern repeat. Right now, however, I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with how the lace is coming along on the foot. The leg turned out quite nice but for some reason on the foot the right side yarn over holes are much, much smaller than the left side yarn over holes. They're made the same way on both the leg and the foot so I don't know what's changed but it's not making me happy.

I bought this yarn at NH Sheep and Wool from a company called Times Remembered. It's from their Nantucket Heather line in a color called Wild Strawberry. The yarn is 100% untreated wool and is a but more "rustic" than what I usually use. It's not rough and it doesn't have any "stuff" in it but it definitely has a sturdy, rustic feel. I'm enjoying it.

Mexicali Peppers

Yarn: Mexicali Peppers by Perchance to Knit
Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Stockings by Nancy Bush in Knitting Vintage Socks
Needles: Size 1 US Knit Picks circs
Modifications: Cast on the number of stitches she had decreased down to



I finished these socks yesterday morning in time to photograph them and wear them to book group. I just squeaked in under the wire to finish my April socks for SAM 3. I haven't missed a single month in SAM 2 or 3 yet and I didn't want April to be my first.

I almost lost the faith folks. I was sure I didn't have enough yarn to finish the second sock. You know how it is once that center pull ball falls in on itself and starts looking all floppy. Once I abandoned the Whitby I took another look at my second Mexicali Peppers. I wound the yarn into a ball and it started to look better. I decided to just knit and see what happened. As it turned out I had more than enough yarn - I've still got a small ball left (should have taken a photo of that, too).

This yarn is wonderful. If you have a chance to check out Perchance to Knit you really should. All her yarns come with a handmade Swarvoski crystal stitch marker. The yarn has good yardage and is very soft and nicely spun. I can't wait to knit with it again. I now have another Nancy Bush pattern under my belt. My goal this year is to knit at least Nancy Bush sock from each of her books that I own.

Baseball season is really in full swing now. Although the weather did not look promising yesterday with thundershowers all afternoon and pop up showers throughout the evening, we were able to get in all our baseball. The oldest had school practice from 3:30 to 5:00. That practice ran late by 15 minutes which created a small problem as he needed to be at his Babe Ruth game in another town by 5:15. I rushed him to his Babe Ruth game only to find that he was the starting catcher (13 year olds don't normally catch in Babe Ruth) AND that his school coach had "borrowed" his catcher's mitt and not put it back in his bag. He was able to use the team mitt and caught a beautiful, hard played, slug fest game. He got hurt in the last inning - took a pitch to the hand - and we'll see how he feels when he wakes up this morning. In the end, they won 11 - 10. It was an exciting game.

The Red Sox are looking great. They won 2 out of 3 games with the Yankees this weekend and 5 out of 6 in the last week. Woohoo!! It's early in the season but wins against the Yankees should count twice because they're that much more satisfying.

Whitby

She looks like a lovely Whitby, no?

Truly I enjoyed every moment of knitting her. The Louet Gems is a dream to work with and the pattern was memorizable right from the start. I even enjoyed knitting with my old Pony Pearls that haven't been used in years.
You'd think that I'd be happy and celebrating the completion of the first sock and eager to start the second. The problem is the sock doesn't fit. Oh I know it looks like it fits but it fits like a latex glove. It's just too darn tight. My gauge is a smidge off from Nancy Bush's but that's not unusual for me. I typically knit to a much tighter gauge than she and my socks still always fit. My gauge was only off by 1/2 a stitch. I got 7 spi whereas she got 6.5. Normally my gauge is more than a whole stitch tighter than hers.

What to do?
I can't wear the sock as is. I'd lose feeling and blood flow to my feet. I could go up a needle size but I'm not sure that would be enough and truthfully I like the fabric at 7 spi. I could add stitches between the diamonds and the cables and add a couple more ribs to the back - bring the stitch count from 51 to 59 or so (I haven't done the math yet). For now, it's just resting. I didn't cut the yarn or kitchener the toe or rip it out yet.
I started working on my second Mexicali Peppers sock again. That's disheartening also because I know I won't have enough yarn to finish. I guess I've got to knit until I run out before I plan a solution - see how much yarn I'll need. I'm not opposed to contrasting toes but I'm not sure what the Perchance to Knit base yarn is and I'd like to match it. Maybe my friend, Sheri, at The Loopy Ewe could help me figure that out.
April may be my first sockless month in a long time.

Conwy socks finished

Pattern: Conwy from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: J. Knits Boston
Needles: Size 1 Knit Picks circs
Modifications: I only decreased to 64 stitches at the gusset instead of 60 and kept the foot at 64 stitches until the toe.

These are the first socks I've ever knit with decreases in the leg. They fit like a dream. I could have made them an inch longer in the leg and been a little happier but they seemed like they were going to be too tight if I pulled them up higher. I liked the twining cables but was very glad to have my Knit Picks needles with their very sharp points or I might not have finished the pattern. I'm not too quick so I didn't memorize the pattern right away but once I did it flowed.

The J. Knits yarn was mostly a pleasure to work with. The color variations are wonderful - I love the dark blue that runs through this yarn. The yarn is very soft and very strong. It has nice spring to it. There were a few slubby areas and it had a tendency to be somewhat splitty (which is a definite disadvantage in this pattern).

First Conwy finished

My first Conwy sock was finished this morning. I really wanted to share a picture but the temperature outside right now is 1 degree F. It's cold. Really cold. The funky winter lighting and the cold prevented me from being able to get a good photo. I'll try again later. The close up shot showing the detail on the leg came out much better. I really like the way the yarn works with this pattern. I don't think I would have liked this pattern in a totally solid colored yarn.

Here's what I think about the yarn and pattern:
Yarn - J. Knits yarn is very soft but has good memory. It produces a fabric with good stitch definition and good elasticity. The colors are very nice. The yarn could have a tighter twist and had tendency to split. There were also a few slubby areas. I was very glad I used my KP needles with this pattern and yarn - the pointy tips were definitely a necessity.

Pattern - Conwy makes a beautiful sock with twining cables all the way from the top to the bottom. The cables were easy to make once I got the hang of them and the 4 row repeat was easy to memorize. I've never done a sock with calf shaping before and I like how this sock fits. I knit it an inch shorter than the pattern called for but an inch longer than my usual sock. I wasn't sure I was doing the decreases down the back of the leg properly as the pattern only shows you how to do 3 out of 6. In the end I think I did fine because the back of the leg looks good. Again, I'm glad I was using a multi tonal yarn. As I was doing the gussets I kept the foot a bit bigger than called for in the pattern because it would have been too snug otherwise (I kept the foot at 64 stitches instead of 60 as called for in the pattern). It fits very nicely this way. I also did my own regular round toe that I always do. I just like it and don't see any need to change it.

Now I just need to get the second sock on the needles.