Lace – Page 7 – Vickilicious Knits

Almost Eleanor

VickiJuly 10, 20081 Comment

Well this has never happened before.

I made a pair of socks, in a pattern and a yarn I absolutely adore, but I am not happy with the socks. I finished these on June 30th, and I’ve been unhappily thinking about them since then.

(Please excuse the lousy photo – I was rushing to submit it for a Sockdown entry.)

I love almost everything about these socks, but I made one big error. I tried to make the eyelets mirror images of one another, so they would cascade from the center down to each foot. Unfortunately, the way the pattern progressed, it made one set of eyelets (at left) very open and well-formed, the way they were intended. The second (at right) are smaller and tighter, more like a squinting aperture than a true eyelet.

I knit the smaller eyelets first, and as I saw the pattern changing on the second sock, I liked it so much that I figured I’d deal with the difference and try to compensate for it with a severe blocking of the first. Nothing doing. If I want these socks to match (and I do), I have to re-knit one of them.

As much as I love knitting socks, three of a kind may be too much for me.

WIP it Out

VickiJune 13, 2008Leave a comment

I think that show and tell is probably the best course of action to describe what I’ve been up to lately. (Isn’t it always?)

First, I’ve taken appraisal of the yarn situation in my apartment and determined there is entirely too much. I posted this photo to Ravelry, but neglected to post it here – this is my entire sock yarn stash:

Yikes. I have another labeled version of it all as well. My boyfriend did take a few photos of my entire stash covering our bed, but the colors are grossly inaccurate. If you can stand an HDR, here it is. Seeing it sprawled out reaffirms my decision not to buy any more yarn for a good long while.

A recent day serving jury duty provided ample knitting opportunity, where predictably I worked on green socks. I am well past the heel and up the cuff on my first Eleanor sock, which is good, as I am trying to finish them by the end of June.

I also worked on a design-your-own sock challenge for Sock Knitters Anonymous, and it has involved a little math and a lot of frogging.

I got pretty far along when I realized a minor (and mostly undetectable error) that I knew would drive me crazy. I was so frustrated that I ripped all the way back to the beginning. I think I’ve got the pattern sorted out completely now, so once I cast back on these should be pretty fast-moving.

I also have socks in other colors currently going – Spiral Boot Socks for the Knitting 19th Century Novels KAL for Around the World in 80 Days.

I’ve loved reading the book when I have a spare moment (or can’t sleep), but I have not made any real time for these socks yet, and it’s unlikely I will finish them by June with everything else I’m attempting.

My green fixation has combined with my need for practicality in a One-Tone Ribbed Shrug from Fitted Knits.

This shrug is an enjoyable knit, and it’s moving quickly. The latter point is crucial because I really should be using those needles to finish this other little sweater, whose recipient is visiting my parents in less than two weeks.

This is the Cropped Raglan Sweater from Lion Brand, and I’ve knit one for myself, so I know I love the pattern.

The one that I knit last summer was all acrylic, and this is in Knit Picks Shine Worsted (a cotton/modal blend), so the drape and feel are completely different. At first I didn’t think I liked it, and I worried about the color, but now that I’ve had some time away from it, I think it has the potential to be a really lovely gift.

On some weird compulsion, I forced myself to cast on the Lace Ribbon Scarf even though I already had too many projects going. I messed up not once, twice, or even three times, but more than four times, resulting in complete froggings. Of course then it became a vendetta. I had to make this scarf.

I think I’ve got it now.

This is a red cotton yarn, and I really love the way it feels. The color and the texture remind me so much of Kabbalah strings it’s uncanny.

As this post probably makes perfectly clear, I’ve got a lot of projects going on and have failed miserably at my three-projects-at-a-time goal. I think this is an accurate reflection of the rest of my life at the moment as well. I hope to knock out some FOs quickly so that I can get it all back under control.

Oh, and I’ve also got this to deal with.

Sigh. We’ll talk more about that soon.

FO – Seduction Socks

VickiApril 14, 2008Leave a comment

This weekend I finished my Seduction Socks.

And yeah, they are everything I thought they’d be.

Pattern: Seduction Socks by Ann Budd, from Interweave Knits spring 2007 (also available as a free PDF here)
Size: women’s US 9
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss, 70% Merino wool 30% silk, 4-ply fingering weight, color Dusk (dye lot 29279), less than 2 skeins or approximately 330 yards
Needles: Knit Picks 6″ nickel-plated DPNs, size 2.5 (3.00mm)
Modifications: worked toe-up with a short-row heel, added length to leg and changed cuff to 2×2 ribbing

Started: March 1, 2008
Finished: April 12, 2008

I absolutely loved this pattern, and these socks were a joy to knit. The 8-row sequence was extremely easy to memorize, as it was actually two very similar “patterny” rows, with 3 rows of simple filler in between.

If it were poetry, the stanzas might have gone ABBB CBBB (does that make sense?). In this case the difference between A & C was practically negligible, so it was really more like a 4-row repeat, where 3 rows were the same. My point is that it was very easy and fun lace that I worked from a Post-It for the first two or three repeats and from memory for the rest.

I am simply thrilled with the elegance of this approach. I’m a huge fan of patterns where you get a big pay-off for a simple effort, and the graceful, dancing movement of this lace makes me so happy for both its economy and beauty.

I decided to go toe-up so I could make the most of my yarn and decide on the length of the leg as I went. Conversion was simple, and I’m really happy I made that choice. I used a figure-8 cast on (12 stitches to start, for a wider toe) and increased to 56 stitches. I worked 5 rows after my increases to get a toe length of about 2″. I determined this length by looking at where the decreases were supposed to begin in the original pattern.

I worked 64 rounds of lace (8 pattern repeats) on the foot, then worked a short-row heel calculated from this pattern. Because I had 56 stitches, I worked the heel over 28 stitches, with 10 in the middle and 9 on each side (if you’re looking at that pattern, E=10). I am really happy with these heels – the fit is spot-on perfect. I hope it’s not immodest to say they are probably the best heels I’ve ever worked.

I worked 96 rounds (12 repeats) after the heel, to give a leg that came just to the point in my calf where I’d have to start thinking about increasing. I had an abundance of yarn leftover, probably enough to have made knee socks. I used 2×2 ribbing with a stretchy bind-off at the top, and they feel marvelous.

The yarn is more than heavenly to use, with a decadent feel and insane softness. They really are luxurious on the feet, and worked on such large needles, I worried they might not be strong enough to wear with shoes. Because of the silk content and the fairly open lace, I was planning for these to be lounging or bed socks from the beginning, though once I’ve worn them around the apartment some, I’m no longer concerned about their strength.

I would absolutely recommend using Gloss if you want to fall in love with socks. The new colors are especially appealing, and I am exercising tremendous self-control by resisting the urge to buy every available color immediately. As for this blue, it has a seductive power all its own, and I’m really pleased with the fit of yarn to pattern.

I think these socks would make an excellent beginning lace project, and I actually think they’d make great first socks. Using a row counter alleviated any anxiety I had about having to pay attention or making sure they matched, but it’s simple enough to see what’s going on in this pattern by itself. I think I’ve reached a comfort level with sock-knitting that there was no point where I worried about not knowing what to do – actually, I knit these socks on autopilot, so they were wonderful stress relief and downright meditative.

In conclusion, I am utterly, thoroughly seduced… and now rather smitten.

Previous Entries on this Project:
– More Socks on the Needles
– Seduced

Seduced

VickiMarch 4, 20081 Comment

One of my knitting resolutions this year is to knit a pair of socks every month. The Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry has been extremely helpful in keeping me focused on this task, as they have monthly challenges and – best for me – two months to complete each pair.

The March challenge includes the option of a pair of socks designed by Ann Budd, and as it happens, I like so many of her patterns that perhaps the hardest part was choosing which one to knit.

I went with the Seduction Socks, from the spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits, also available online (PDF) for free. This pattern is really enjoyable and simple, and it zips along over 56 stitches on size 2 needles.

I’ve chosen to do these toe-up so that I can use all of my yarn and so that I can increase the length of the cuff. I am knitting the lace pattern as written, without flipping it upside down, as it is highly symmetrical and I think it looks good this way.

Keep things simple, right?

FO – Hedera Socks

VickiFebruary 14, 2008Leave a comment

I finished my Hedera socks today.

They’re pretty cozy.

Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A, from spring 2006 Knitty
Size: L, to fit a women’s size 9
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential 75% superwash Merino wool / 25% nylon, fingering weight, color 23695, Grass
Needles: Susan Bates size 1 DPNs
Modifications: I added three extra lace repeats in the cuff, for 17 total.

Started: January 7, 2008
Finished: February 14, 2008

As I said, I added 3 lace repeats to the cuff, but on hindsight I could have added much more. I had about 24 grams of yarn out of 100 leftover, nearly a quarter of my yarn (twice the amount pictured below).

I don’t know why, but that really bothered me. This is something that I definitely don’t like about cuff-down socks, as well as picking up stitches for the gusset and Kitchener stitch on the toes. I think it’s safe to say I will be knitting socks toe-up whenever possible from here forward.

The pattern itself is brilliantly written and elegant. That Cookie A, she really knows how to design socks.

Once I memorized the lace pattern and got used to doing things like a yarn over just before an SSK decrease, they moved a lot faster. I made considerably fewer mistakes on the second sock than on the first, probably because the cuff of the first was knit almost entirely in the dim cabin lighting of an airplane, while bleary eyed with travel exhaustion.

There is not a huge payoff for the amount of work the lace took, but they look pretty nice. I was planning for these to be fairly simple socks, in an almost neutral color, so that I could wear them with dress pants and such. In that respect, I think they’ll work very well.

The yarn was thinner and a little coarser than I’ve worked with before, but I have a feeling it will wear like iron. The fabric on the feet is nicely tight and snug, but with enough flexibility to be very comfortable on.

All in all, I’m pretty pleased. The fit is fabulous, especially in the toes. My only wish is that they were a little longer, but that’s what Sodera socks are for, right?

I’m wearing them already, and I suspect they will get a lot of use.