Still learning...

On Saturday I went shopping for a wedding dress with and for my middle daughter. After wards we ended up at the mall where I worked on the sock while the others all went in separate directions to shop with old gift cards.

 

I even tried it on a bit. It's coming along!

(sorry for the pour cell phone pictures...I've GOT to get a new phone soon!)

See? Hugged two more kids. It's always a good day when I can hug a kid. It's a bonus week when I can hug more than one these days. Still waiting to hug all four in one day. *sigh* It might be awhile.

**Double sigh** I only got these down to 7.5 stitches per inch. How in the world do people get socks down to 10 stitches per inch? I don't think I'll ever get that small a gauge! Good grief!

Still trying to wrap my head around...

Oh, ya, I'm hooked-big time. But I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around some of you who have commented and are just that good, to get your socks down to 10 stitches per inch! Oh, my goodness! And here I thought 7 was freakin' fabulous! But I think I just might have a clue why...

The other project that I've been working on? Is with size (US) 15's (10.0mm)-just a 'wee bit' larger than these (US)1.5 (2.5mm) sock needles! Learning to get the right 'feel' of a much smaller gauge has been an interesting journey. So.much.more.to.learn!

I say, Bring it!

When I grow up I want to be....

called a sock knitter!

Back on New Year's Day of 2007, I (for the first and only time in my life) gave myself two resolutions. The first was to learn to knit with multiple colors using intarsia and fair isle, and the second was to learn to knit socks. I've been practicing them ever since. 

And so today, I give you a pair of socks. Not just ANY socks. But socks for my Mom! This past summer her yellow slacks were one of her favorite pairs she picked to wear over and over again. When I walked into The Stitching Well, some Wildfoote yarn jumped right out at me and was the perfect color match for Mom's slacks. (yes, she wears slacks, not pants-there is a difference. She's 82, after all.)

I like the way the socks show up in this picture....

And this one...

But this picture shows the color much more accurately. Here are the particulars...

"Island Fudge" socks by Phyll Lagerman in her Michiganisms! line of patterns,  in women's large for size 11 narrow feet. Lantern Moon's sox stix in (US) 2 (2.75mm) needles, knit two at a time, Brown Sheep's Wildfoote 50 g wool (times two skeins) in SY-34 Lullaby color. They have not been blocked, yet. I need to find some sock blockers first. Then they'll be washed and blocked before I give them to Mom. Now, I also have to talk myself into waiting until her birthday in December to gift them to her. That might be the biggest problem yet! I'm terrible with hand knit gifts, I tend to want to give them asap. But then, I'd have to knit something else up in the meantime. See my dilemma?

Yes, I will knit these socks again, only in a much smaller size for me as well as many of her other sock patterns. After all, a Michigan girl HAS to have a slew of Michigan themed socks, right? Even if I only wear them for 2 months out of the year!

So, what did I do last night?

Cast on another pair of socks, but this time they're for me! I'm dropping the needle size down to a (US) 1 1/2 (2.5mm) on this pair. My feet aren't either size small or medium, but somewhere between the two. So, my hope is that if I knit the size medium directions with a smaller sized needle, pay attention to the actual length that I need, they just might feel like 'real socks'.

Every time I go into another yarn store, I go and touch their knitted socks. My aren't as 'tight' a gauge as I've found. Yet. So I keep asking what their tricks are. Smaller needles! Duh! I knew that, it's called...are you ready for it? Gauge.

Here's the particulars for this pair of socks: Lace Rib socks from The little box of Socks (don't you just loveeeeeeeeeeee Charlene Schurch's patterns?) Crystal Palace double point needles in (US) 1 1/2 (2.5mm), Brown Sheep's Wildfoote wool two 50 g skeins of SY-47 Surf Board Blue.  I have others that I'd like to knit socks for, but want to practice on my feet, first getting that 'just right' fit. Why?

Because I either need to send my relatives to China and have them start practicing foot binding, or find some smaller footed family members. Here's my size 6 1/2 wide socks next to Mom's 11 narrow socks. Can you see a difference? 'Just a bit', 'eh? I think it's a wiser idea to practice sock sizing on smaller feet. But what do I know? I'm still learning.

It's PINK Month-Show YOUR PINK!

PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK PINK!!!!!!!!

 

In honor of My Mom, My Auntie, and all my survivor friends and my daughters so they can stay healthy! Support your favorite brands raising money for research! Go PINK!!!

Is it really the end of September?

Just where did September go? I know, I've been busy, and not sharing well with you all. But I think I'll make up for it here. Sit back and come with me on my journey!

When was the last time you cooked up a batch of No Bake cookies? I think the last time I made these, I was at Beth's house after school way back in jr. high school for me. Boy are, I mean were these good! But I'd forgotten how sugary they were! Makes me want to go grab a glass of milk all over again.

Made a slew of stitch markers for a friend and her Mom to share.

Finished the 'Cuse Scarf (Used Flaunt your Colors Scarf pattern and 2 skeins each of the orange and navy Plymouth's Encore yarn, and 60 st cast on size) which then was mailed to daughter. However, I'd really like the flier miles the scarf went, since it made it way via the postal system to New Hampshire, back to Long Beach, CA, then to Anaheim, before crossing the country once more up to New York for it's delivery! Man, what a trip that scarf made! (See what putting tracking numbers on your packages will do for your handknits?)

Finished the hospital socks and they're just waiting for the final try on before I graft the toes shut. Why is it, that when I want the kids to try on the stuff I knit for them, their schedules just never seem to match with mine? Makes you wish they'd never grown up-eh? Not to mention you'd not have to knit size 13 mens socks, either! Kids sizes would be finished so much faster!

Finished almost the whole kitchen set for the kid's friend's wedding gift (Cables 'n Columns set from the 2011 Dishcloth calendar using a cone of Peaches & Creme cotton )

 Hugged a kid...

 Added fringe to the high flying miles 'Cuse Scarf...

Hugged another kid...

 

When I finished the last placemat, look how much I had left from the cone of cotton? Oh, how I love using cones to knit the kitchen sets! No ends to weave in and plenty of cotton to knit the whole set in the same dye lot. 

And now Mom's socks are within moments away of starting the toes! Yea! They will be ready to gift to her the next time I go to see her. Now, shhhhhh don't anyone tell her! I can't wait to start a pair of these for myself!

Now, are you ready for what's coming up next on the calendar? There's a hint in one of these pictures, can you figure it out?

Cables 'n Columns Kitchen Set

2011 Dishcloth Calendar is ready!!!
The sale information is here.
Included in this years calendar will be my patterns:

Cables 'n Columns Dishcloth

Cables 'n Columns Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel

Cables 'n Columns Placemat

Cables 'n Columns Sack Sock

All of my patterns were knit with Peaches & Creme in Article 930 cone in color P94, Deep Red with (US) 5 (3.75mm), (US) 7 (4.5mm) straight needles, (US) 7 (4.5mm) 16" circular needle, and (US) 6 (4.0mm) double point needles. 

Enjoy!

The teaser picture? Was this one. Samples here, from top left:  knit with Lily's Sugar 'n Cream Stripes in Lime stripes, Peaches & Cream Cone in White, Peaches & Cream Cone Premium in Deep Red

In the meantime...

Sorry for the delay in the 'announcement', it appears that technical difficulties beyond my control have pushed it back. I was really hoping to have given you all the details on September 5th, but....while you're waiting, I'll bring you up to date on my needles, etc...

The "IU /Perfect" scarf has been finished. Yes, with the Plymouth Encore yarn, I really do like the (US)9 (5.5mm) circular needles with it. So, I would recommend that you play with your yarn and needles and see which size you want for your scarves. The purple and yellow one I knit for my niece last year was knit with Lion Brand's Wool-ease yarn. I like the (US)8 (5.0mm) needles for that yarn, it's skinnier. With the 9/5.5mm's on this one, I ended up with 16sts/21 rows gauge with the white, and 17sts/21 rows with the red. See? The dyes can make a real difference on the same brand/type of yarn. It helps to check your gauge all the time! Flaunt your Colors Scarf pattern can be found here. I'll update that at a later time. 

Meanwhile, I'm working on a pair of socks for daughter's fiance. He's been asking for some slipper socks for around the house type of wearing. I'm using one of the A.C.Moore bags of mill ends, which feel a lot like Bernat's Berella 4 worsted acrylic. He tried on the pair of socks that I'd knit for A4A, and liked the way they fit, so that's the same pattern that I'm using for him, too. That is a 'Sock class' that can be found here.

For the last bit today, while I'm 'patiently' waiting for the other news, I bought the yarn for this scarf ohhhhh, probably 2 1/2 - 3 years ago. I spent the better part of last week searching all over the house for it. I had saved it so well that I had to clean out two closets and it still wasn't there, nor in the bin with the rest of my Plymouth Encore yarn bin. [OK choir, do I hear an 'amen' from the peanut gallery? I know you've done this many times, just like me. We're all in good company here.] Why? Because I had intended to knit it for the oldest daughter WHILE she was still a Master's student at Syracuse University. However, since I had it in the planning stage for so long, I couldn't remember where I had it on 'hold' in the 'on deck' circle. Once I finally found it in a totally different location than where I would have bet the farm it was hiding it hit the needles as quick as I could get it to prevent me from 'saving' it so well again. Again I'm using (US) 9 (5.5mm) 16" circular Addi turbos to try and get this finished and off to her before the first snow flakes fly while she's still in the area where the colors would be appreciated. What a shame that Plymouth discontinued that color shade of orange #1383! I think it's the perfect color of orange for all things team/school colors and Halloween/pumpkin! Why oh why yarn companies, do you NOT keep the crayola 8 and pastel colors in your line up so we Moms and sport fans can find the correct team colors and baby colors year after year when we're knitting up sweaters, hats, scarves, and mittens? Add the seasonal colors from time to time, but please, keep the basic 'bread and butter' colors with your 'bread and butter' yarns! It would make this knitting one happy camper to be able to find what I want, when I want, as the inspiration hits to make things for people without adding to the 'someday I'm going to do such and such pile' in my house.

Just sayin'....

Do you remember?

Do you remember when I posted this picture back here? Well, it's  really, really close to the time when I can tell you about it! I know, it's been long in waiting...but....soon! VERY SOON!

I'm excited! Curious? Stay tuned!

buzzing along...

Ok, we're sailing aright along here...now if only I could find the blasted paper where I traced Mom's feet and wrote down all her measurements, I could figure out how long to make these size 11 socks! I love my Mom, I love my Mom...why does she not have puny feet like me? hahaha...

Now that my son has gone back to the mid-west, tailgate season is just around the corner and since he lost he IU scarf eons ago, he needs another one..so ... we're, as in I am knitting circles for the kid...

Using the Flaunt your Colors Scarf. Only this time I bumped it up to (US) 9 needles and I really like the way it feels. I may have to rethink that pattern!

How often do you get to meet the author of knitting books? This one is a gem...the book ain't bad, either! ahahaha....I suggest any chance you get, always have the author sign the book, it makes it a lot more fun! Can't wait to knit up some socks he wrote in here!

Shazam!

So I've been sick for the past several days. I hate being sick. It plain stinks. You start with a sore throat...spreads to making your eyes water, then your nose runs..well, you get the picture, right? But then all you want to do is get some sleep and will that doggone cold away. For me? That's when the crazy dreams start creeping in. Shazam! is what I heard in my sleep, as if I was channeling Gomer Pyle. Yes, complete with his voice, accent and all. And then it flipped to the socks I'm working on for Mom. Shazam! Like that, we have two socks going at once. But then a few hours later, I get Mike Meyer's voice running through my cold infected dreams hearing him in his best SNL Linda Richman voice saying, 'Like buttah' pointing to both the needles and the color of these socks. Ulg, I don't want to be sick anymore. But I am enjoying these socks. And the needles, "Give a call, we'll talk, no big whoop." Oh, Linda Richman, where are you these days?

Ok, so prior to getting sick, there was a whole lot of knitting going on. You now have the 'Simply a Rug' pattern ready for your kitchen floor, or bathroom, or back door....or where ever the stash of cotton you have will match the colors in your favorite rug kinda place. See? I used 4 strands of cotton at a time with big old needles to make a rug I love to stand on at my kitchen sink in bare feet. Because I used the 14-16oz sizes of huge cones and skeins, I have enough to make at least one more if not two more rugs and they will all match. I used two solid blues, one multi blue and one solid white yarn. The pictures don't even really show the yellow in the multi blue skein. I have a request now for a brown rug for baby daughter. That should be a good choice to keep the 'stuff' from showing the first week of use. I like having multiple rugs to swap in and out while doing laundry. I'm guessing that in the future, I'll end up letting these air dry rather than pop 'em into the dryer. Who knows, but I'll try and remember to let you down down that road. Can't wait to get a few more things off my 'to do' list so I can see how the brown rug turns out. I have soooooooooooo many of those cotton big skeins here, and now I know how I want to mix and match them up. Can you imagine what colors you can put together if you use Peaches & Creme and actually order colors you want  to put together, rather than just what you have sitting around? OOOOO girl, note to self...don't tap into that thought, the idea was to use up what you have and do some serious cotton stash busting! ya, ya, ya...I hear ya...

I know that this picture doesn't make these little bitty pink sockies look like they match, but they do. My baby brother's Step daughter is about to have baby #2 in September. And this time, it's a girl! When I asked him which colors she was interested in for a baby blanket, he said white and pink and the socks just hollered at me, that they just HAD to be knit up.

Big brother who was the recipient of this blanket back nearly three years ago, claimed his pawpawa's Tiger's inspired colored hat this Christmas, so I figured he needs to have his own big brother gift to open. He is a lover of all things 'Nemo blue' and this was made from some of the AC Moore blue yarn that I've yet to bust into to. I used the same Mushroom cap pattern in the 80 st cast on as all the other hats I knit for last year's Christmas gifts. I just love how the ribbing makes that hat fit soooooo many different sized heads. Granted some need to be longer, and some shorter, but you don't really have to worry about the width! yeah! If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I say.

Baby sister will have her own blanket now. All pink and soft to wrap her in when she arrives. I used Simply Soft again, for the ease of popping into the washer and dryer. The next step on my to-do list, will be to get these all mailed out before the little lady makes her grand entrance. Are you like that, too? Spend all that time knitting quickly to get the projects finished, but getting them all packaged up and off to the post office, well, that seems to be my downfall. I shall endeavor to improve! It makes me "a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves."

Simply a Rug

Simply a Rug

©Cathy Waldie, July 31, 2010

Finished size: 21”x 33” Rectangle

24 ozs of yarn: 6 ozs of 4 different worsted cotton yarns/ 290 yds/ 263 m of each cotton (Sample knit with a mixture of Peaches & Creme, Sugar 'n Cream, Cotton Mill ends, and Handicrafter Cotton)

(US) 13 (9.0mm) needles (sample made with Addi clicks for width, but knit flat)

Gauge: 8 sts/12 r = 4”/10 cm

C/O = Cast On
Sl 1 = Slip one stitch

St(s)=stitch(es)
K= Knit
P= Purl
B/O= Bind Off

C/O 70 sts

1-4) Sl 1 st, K across

5) Sl 1, K across

6) Sl 1, K3, P62, K4

7-60) repeat rows (5-6) 27 x’s more for a total of 28 pattern repeats.

61-65) Sl 1, K across

66) B/O in P.

Cut Threads, weave ends. Apply rug backing to prevent the rug from slipping.

BU Cable Scarf

 BU Cable Scarf

© Cathy Waldie, April 21, 2006

Found on the October 10th page of the calendar!

This is a double layered scarf knit in the round with cables running up the front side. Perfect for those winters in Boston when you're daughter is going to school. Or any other cold winter area when the snow is blowing sideways and the snow is deep when you're shoveling your car out at 5am.