duchessofgravity

some yarn just doesn't want to be what you want it to be. the pattern isn't right. knitting them just doesn't make you happy. you try a different pattern and that just doesn't help. heck sometimes. you just don't even want the yarn to be yarn after a while. you just want the yarn. and the project . to just go away. so say goodbye. these are headed to the frog pond. anybody want some slightly used but perfectly acceptable sock yarn? i'm just over it. let me know.

lots of sugar in my cappuccino please. or maybe iced. it has been a hot day... i guess as long as it is caffeinated it shouldn't really matter right? i think i deserve it! cause these babies are done! the venezia socks. or cappuccino as i call them. i used the pattern charts and just knit these up. for my second attempt at stranded color work i think they turned out great! if i had it to do over again i would probably have used a different pattern for the sole. the stripe is a little too bold for the swishiness of the instep and leg pattern. but hey. you learn. the specifics: pattern: chart from the venezia sweater by Eunny Jang yarn: sock it to me 4 ply in coffee bean and latte needles: knitpicks harmony circs size 1. socks knit as 2 magic loops simultaneously (these needles are actually growing on me) details: magic cast on 16 stitches in coffee bean, increase at edges on every row to 26 then every other row to 36 stitches. move one stitch from sole of sock(35) to inste...

almost a year ago now i was working on my pomatomus socks when i realized that i had one sock with 67 stitches, and the other had 73...the pattern calls for 72 stitches around the leg. d'oh! these guys promptly went in the bad knitting basket to think about what they had done. when i cast on for the cappuccino socks last week i couldn't figure out what had happened to my size one addi's. then i remembered. so out they came. the 73 stitch sock was an easy fix. i knit two stitches together. switched to my contrast yarn. and knit up the twisted ribbing. the second sock, well that is going to take some frogging. i have to figure out where the last correct stitch count was and re-knit from there. in the meantime. check out that twisted stitch pattern. neat huh? gosh it sure is a pain to p1, k1tbl over and over and over again :) well i just could let well enough alone. i knit through the gimpiness and just held my bandaided finger out of the way and figured out that it wa...

so dave and i went to the farmers market. collected fresh eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms. and brought them home for dinner :) but while i was slicing veggies i sliced my finger. oops. and it's my index on my left hand! you know what that means right? no knitting. at lease for a couple of days. dang-it. and i was doing so well on my socks. oh well. so after i washed the blood off what did we do with those veggies? well dave cubed up the rest (my chopping privileges have been revoked for a while.) and we tossed the pieces with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, some sea salt and fresh pepper, and some dry herbs. then, we roasted them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes (which was may have been a bit too long) and served them up with a box of celery, onion, and cornbread stuffing and a rotisserie chicken from the grocery. what can i say? sometimes i take shortcuts :) finish it off with a glass of what we like to call 2-buck-chuck* and you're done. so, what's a brok...

so the plan is to knit 2 socks before the end of september. first you have to make sense of the chart. i know there are mistakes in that but don't worry i fixed 'em. then you knit the world's smallest swatch. i realized i was carrying the pattern color in the wrong hand because it just didn't pop. so i switched for the socks. then you wind up 4 balls of yarn and cast on. at like midnight. cause it is finally july and you can. i learned the last time that 4 balls of yarn. 2 socks. and 2 circs. is a recipe for disaster. so i am working these socks one at a time. magic loop style. so that is still 2 socks on 2 circs. just separate. so i knit the toes together. why not. then i separated my socks and started the first sock. and then the second sock. leapfrog fashion. when one sock gets to half a pattern repeat then i set it down and knit a whole pattern repeat on the second sock. then i knit a whole pattern repeat on the first. so far i am 3/4 and 1/2 of a repeat in....

i mean really. is it so much to ask that a product does what it is intended to do without crapping out on you? there i was knitting along minding my own business when... yup. thats a sock. half done with my first ever lifestyle heel. you know i don't like change. i am perfectly happy with my plain-jane ordinary short row heels. heck when i try something new something always goes wrong ... but i was willing to try. you know me i don't frog things. i just go with it. well i had frogged this stupid heel 4 times to get it how i wanted it...until disaster struck. yeah see there. here lemme help you out. the cable just popped out of the needle. the stitches just zipped off the cable. and the heel with to hell in a handbasket. stinking knitpicks circs . "durable fixed circular needles" my @ss. i had heard that this happens. but never to me. not til now. sigh. you'll be hapy to know that the sock was saved. the heel navigated without further drama and the second heel ...

a lotta bit fun a while back i joined the sock.knitters.anonymous. group over on ravelry. cause i gotta admit. i have a problem. they have these neat sockdown challenges that encourage you to stretch your knitting wings a bit. so far i haven't joined in, but the july challenge is to knit socks using fairisle, colorwork, or intarsia! now you may remember that once upon a time i did a little bit of this . and it was tough. but it was great. having conquered my fear of lace i think it's time to face a little more of my fear. i've wanted to knit the venezia sweater from interweave knits - well since it came out. but i just can't bring myself to do it. it's huge. but socks. now that's doable. my plan. knit a pair of socks using the charts from venezia i want to stick to two colors so i don't lose my mind. more than i already have that is. so here goes nothing! whadda ya think? good color choices? the color names are coffee bean and latte. hey, what can i s...

well on the return trip i didn't have a window seat and i guess it is just as well. it was cloudy the whole way back. i did get to finish up my colofornia socks though check them out! i have been reading cookie a's sock book. and i had been thinking about how to make stitch patterns do more than just cover an area knitted fabric. i played with several different ideas and came up withthe following: i started the stitch pattern at te top f the toe and created a diagonal triangle out from the center of the toe by tiling stitch pattern components. here i'm not explainin gwell check out the original pattern here . and take a look at my notes: see how the pattern lends itself to the modification i made? i really like the pointy toe. as i worked along i decided i had to change the heel up a bit too! i inverted the changes i made to the pattern on the toes for the heel. i wanted a longer stretch of stockinette on the heel so that the socks would wear a little more smoothly i...

i was going to leave those socks to think about what they had done... well then i was knitting on these and i finished them up! and then i just couldn't bear to leave the other socks unfinished. and now they even fit right :) and they get the neige stamp of approval. now i just gotta do something about the empty needle situation.

frankensocks the socks are done ! and i love 'em. super fun to knit but gee i hate twisted stitches... yarn:dale baby ull one ball each needles:knitpicks nickel size 1.5 mods:one extra pattern repeat on the leg, contrasting heel, and a stockinette toe

i'm done. for my friend shirley. pattern: spring pools socks modifications: curved toe, y-shaped short row heel , funny ribbing on cuff yarn: elann sock it to me - esprit needles: knitpicks harmony size 1 circs

i finally figured out this pattern . it just didn't make sense for the first 3 pattern repeats and i had to frog the blue sock 3 times...but we're back on track now and i'm having fun. did i ever mention how much i hate knitting two socks separately? well that is what i did til the pattern made sense. on repeat per sock til i got it straight. then getting both socks onto one set of needles, now that's a nightmare. realizing that i'd been using 2 different sizes of needles for the 2 socks...sigh. but now its ok. i did an extra pattern repeat to lengthen the sock leg. which makes me nervous. top down you can run out of yarn. i just didn't want th ebrain damage of trying to turn over this pattern. its just not worth it sometimes . i'm about to start a heel. top down heel flap. can you believe it. i never do that. anyhoo. socking along :)

the bamboo socks are off he needles. i haven't gotten around to taking photos rather i just dipped into the stash, pulled out a really old ball of i don't know which self striping sock yarn and cast on for some plain jane old stockinette self striping socks. i'm about halfway through the toes. wheeee. i love socks don't you? done and started in the matter of minutes! i'll get around to posting bamboo photos soon i promise. oh in other news. my sockpalooza pal received her package and the socks fit. whew. she loves them. double whew! and add ins are always appreciated no? so now i can reveal :) stitch markers fat quarters and of course the usual chocolates and a bag of coffee! this exchange was oodles of fun. time for round 5!!!

because i said so. there is absolutely positively no reason to get any more... i'm just not allowed to. that photo represents the possibility of 39 pair of socks. and that is not including the undyed mountain there on the bottom right. gosh that has got to be a good 10 pair of more all by itself. sigh. recount. 49 pair of socks. i have to get to knitting. so no more yarn for me. til this is under control. in a rough clockwise rotation starting in that black section down there. if there is a yarn type repeat we'll just skip it ok? roll call: wildfoote, sisu, falk, plymouth alpaca, pro natura, pace, cotton stretch, regia cotton, louet gems, knitpicks paint your own by me, panda cotton, knitpicks essentials, online cotton, xxl, jawoll lang, mega boots stretch, 1824, digit, sockotta, regia 4ply, knitpicks paint your own by jenifer, online wool, and the undyed is treadsoft and kona superwash sport. whew! i had to look at a blowup of the photo to figure out all those ( i packed i...

remember these ? well i've been getting a lot of flack lately for not finishing these. and then for not posting about these guys. girls. whatever you wanna call 'em. the thigh highs. yes. they go all the way up. ;) well after completion i gave them a bath. like the high tech knitting bathtub? unfortunately the dye bled a little on these. i'm not sure why. they didn't bleed when i rinsed the yarn after dying. does eucalan normally do that? anyhoo. they got blocked. to the appropriate length. very tidy see ;P i was so over it at this point. tidy blocking out the window. just get it done! and i found two different ribbons that coordinated fairly well i think. of course dave doesn't understand why the socks don't have matching ribbons... boys. goose! i have another piece cut in each color. i'm just not sure which the recipient would prefer... arty photos now :) girly things steamer trunk. and the laundry line version sock specs recipient: dearest pixy* yarn: s...