Pages

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

FO Week: manly socks

In July I finished some socks for my brother, the last member of my immediate family to receive a pair of handknitted socks.

 photo IMG_6484_zps25338746.jpg

Pattern: Twilight by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

Yarn: Regia 4 Ply sock yarn

Mods: I did a 1x1 rib cuff instead of p3 k1.

Notes:
As you can see from the photos, they turned out a little long. This despite the fact that I tried them on my brother before knitting the toes. Maybe he has shrinking feet, or maybe my row gauge was off so the toes turned out longer than they should have. Or maybe it has something to do with the horizonal ribbing issue, described below. Whatever. Brother says he doesn't mind, even when I offered to frog back and do the toes again. Hopefully they aren't uncomfortable in his shoes.

 photo IMG_6485_zps506185e1.jpg

I won't be knitting this pattern again, mainly because the stitch pattern is not my friend. Especially for socks. There is nothing wrong with it objectively, but as it turns out this waffley stitch acts like horizontal ribbing. That may not be the technical term, but I am using it to refer to patterns with several rows of purl then several rows of knit repeating. Horizontal ribbing causes socks to contract vertically, whereas standard vertical rib (i.e. k2 p2 and the like) causes socks to contract horizontally to fit the ankles. As a result of contracting vertically, the socks always seem shorter than they are supposed to be, so knitting them seemed endless! So annoying. I didn't think of this at all before starting - I saw a relatively simple and manly stitch pattern that wasn't rib and jumped on it. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Monday, August 19, 2013

FO Week: Colour Affection

I have several FOs to share, so I've decided that it is FO Week at Good Enough Knits. First up: Colour Affection!

 photo IMG_6331_zps6284a5e3.jpg

Pattern: Color Affection by Veera Valimaki

Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Superwash Merino 4 Ply in Dreich, Jaded, and Bramble

 photo IMG_6341_zps6808e403.jpg

Mods:
Added dropped YOs at the edges to keep them loose and did kfb increases instead of m1. I followed this description on ravelry here.

Notes:
This was great fun. Garter stitch goodness. I loved the yarn so much that I never got bored of it. I may have said this before, but I'll say it again: I want to knit EVERYTHING in Dreich. It is the most beautiful gray-blue semisolid I have ever seen.

 photo IMG_6327_zpse7954355.jpg

I finished this in May, and I haven't worn it much since it is so warm and squooshy. We actually had an okay summer here by Scottish standards, so it wasn't usually cold enough for warm and squooshy scarves. It's also a bit difficult to wear, especially if I want to show off all parts of the lovely pattern. Oh well.

 photo IMG_6329_zpsa2b983dd.jpg

It's also really large. Picture below shows it blocking on a UK kingsize (US Queen) bed. It doesn't fit! If I'd had a larger space, I could have blocked it straight along the top - the dropped YO edge is quite flexible. As it is, it is slightly curved. I like it, though. If I make another CA I might do it as written and let the tighter top edge keep the curves. As you can see, there is a slight bump in the middle of the gray at the top edge - it mostly went straight with blocking, though.

 photo IMG_6314_zpscec4b438.jpg

Despite its current impracticalities, I love it and I've sure I'll use it a lot this winter. After all, it goes with pretty much everything I wear.

 photo IMG_6319_zps909f0818.jpg

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Purple Froth


Despite all my talk about cleansing my knitting palate with unselfish knitting, I've cast on for something for me.

 photo IMG_6574_zps64c687ce.jpg

It doesn't look like much yet, but it will be an Annis. This is my first crescent-shaped shawl and my first attempt at nupps. Nupps evoke a strong emotional response among knitters, it seems, so I'm curious to see if I like them! Haha. I'm going to a wedding in a few weeks, and I'm hoping to have something light to cover my shoulders if it's chilly.

The yarn is Riverside Studio superwash merino lace that I bought while in Ottawa in June. The rav link is for lace singles - this yarn is actually 2 ply lace, but isn't on the rav database. The dye job is gorgeous subtly variegated purples - just variegated enough not to be properly semi-solid, I think. I don't THINK it will be too busy for the lace edging, but I guess I'll find out.

It's WIP Wednesday at Tami's, and maybe if I get my act together I'll have a post for FO Friday. (Or maybe I'll just declare next week FO Week. I have some catching up to do!