Thrum Maddness!

This will be the last blog update for the week from me. Tomorrow we're hittin' the road and heading to Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday. I should get plenty of sock knitting done during the 12 hour drive north (at least until I can no longer see once the sun goes down). I just wanted to post pictures of what I accomplished this weekend during my 'boyfriend free knittingpalooza'. I finished the thrummed mittens for Kevin's Mom. These mittens worked up super fast, it just took me awhile because I alternated knitting mitten/sock to afford the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

Pardon the photos. I don't think they turned out very well at all thanks to the battery on my camera being almost dead.







They are super warm and cozy and should be excellent for keeping hands warm during the cold New England Winter. I wish I had a reason to wear them here in VA, but it just doesn't get that cold. :(

So until next week guys. Have a happy and safe holiday and I hope everyone gets to eat lots of yummy turkey!

I think it's official...

I've come to the realization that I am a sock knitter. You know, what of those crazy broads who has dozens of handknit socks and almost every WIP is a sock of some sort. I didn't think I would like socks that much while working on my first practice sock. I found it kind of tedious and annoying, but I really wanted a pretty pair of socks for myself. So I knit it and learned the basics and started on a real pair. I had fun knitting that pair. The pattern was easy yet interesting. But still, I thought 'oh, these are  just socks. I can't wait to knit a shawl!' I thought for sure my next project would be some sort of lace shawl or stole or scarf.

Nope. Once I pulled both socks on my feet and let the pride wash over me and basked in the glow of compliments I was hooked. I had hand knit socks and I wanted more.

I really wanted to start a new pair last night, but the only sock yarn I had on hand was some boring knit picks pallet and some fair isle striping yarn which would only work in stockinette. I didn't want to do just straight stockinette so I just worked on Thrummed Mitten #2 for a bit while watching Dexter.

Today I went to the LYS and picked up two skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca fine weight yarn. One in a lovely charcoal color and the other the color of...fall? It isn't really one color. It's many colors. Inside it looks kind of like a boring brown but once you get it out into some sunlight the magic happens. It's made out of yellow and purple and green and orange and red yarn. Absolutely gorgeous. And it shimmers.

See for yourselves...










(the blue is knitpicks gloss yarn in Winter Night. It arrived yesterday w/my sock blockers and I meant to take it to the LYS to have it wound up but totally forgot.)

As soon as I got home I snapped a few pictures while the sun was bright just to catch all the pretty colors. Then I sat down and cast on for a pair of Synesthesia socks using the fall yarn. The pattern is like the Spring Forward in that it's pretty simple, w/an easy to remember lace chart. It should make for good travel knitting this weekend while we're on the road to Boston for Thanksgiving. Hopefully by this time next week I'll at least have one more sock under my belt.

The gray yarn I think will become a pair of nice cable socks. Just need to find a pattern I like. The blue? Not sure yet. Maybe some Monkeys or Nutkins.

And that is my story. I am now officially a sock knitter. I think this means eventually I'm going to have to learn the two at a time method. Ugh.

I have....SOCKS! TWO of 'em!

Finished the toe on sock two, not 10 minutes ago! I kitchenered and pulled those bad boys on as fast as I could. They actually fit better than I thought before. Definitely well enough for me to keep them (sorry Manda). I'm pretty pleased with them and man, they are comfy.

Lots of pictures, just so I can compare and contrast between the two of them.



Sock One.



Sock Two.



Sock One Heel Gusset.



Sock Two Heel Gusset. I got noticeably better at picking up the stitches for the gusset on sock two.



Sock One Kitchener Toe. Had a weird ridge of purl bumps halfway through (after the tutorial video ended).



Sock Two Kitchener Toe. No weird purl bumps. Did it spot on this time.



Aw, don't they look so happy?



The only thing I would change if I do them again is to make them taller. They are a we bit on the short side. I have quite a bit of the yarn left over. Maybe enough for a pair of ankle socks?

FO pictures

As I think about it I will try to go back and take better photos of previous finished objects. I don't really have many good pictures of my knitted items so now that I have my little lighting/white backdrop set up I should go back and take better photos. Here are two cowls I finished months ago.

The first one is the Dark Side Cowl. I knit it with some Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Finished it way back in February.





And the second one is Wonky. Also knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I finished this one more recently but I didn't put it on my ravelry project page so I don't remember the details.

This photo shows the texture best.


This photo shows the color better, even if it's all flashed out.


 I think both patterns would benefit from using a heavier weight yarn. I just went through this alpaca thing and had lots of yarn to use up. I still have one ball of the purple left that I haven't quiet figured out what to do with. 

Sock delimma...

So the first sock I finished is a little tight on my foot. I probably started my toe decreases a bit too early. I was knitting my second sock last night and I measured it against my first sock to and they were the same size (where the lace ended before the toe decreases started) and then I tried it on and it was still at least a half inch before needing toe decreases. Hmm...so I kept knitting on it but I'm worried about it being bigger than the first sock. Sure, it'll fit better, but then I'll have two different sized socks!

I'm wondering, will my socks get bigger once they are blocked? That could help with the fit. But if it doesn't then I'll either have to a) rip them out and reknit to the correct size or b) pass them along to someone with slightly smaller feet than me. I could just knit the second sock to the right size and then redo the first but I'm afraid of ripping it out and messing it up.

Ah, decisions decisions! Someone with smaller (size 8ish?) feet might just get  a nice present.

Crocheting? But this blog is called knitterwockey!

I finished two small presents this weekend in between sock knitting binges. My Mom asked for crocheted wash cloths like the ones that I gave to my sister last year  for Christmas (which she never used!) so I finally broke down this weekend and pulled out my hook and watched a few videos (I completely forgot everything I knew about crocheting) and made a dishcloth and bath puff.

I actually did the wash cloth before looking up stitches so I did pretty much everything wrong but it still looks nice so I'm gonna just pretend that I did it the right way.



I forgot how fast crocheting is. I did this during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the Colts/Pats game last night. I can't remember the last time I sat down and finished a project in one session. I felt very productive.



I also got her some handmade soap from the local farmer's market to go with these. I think she'll like them quite a bit and finally, someone will use the gifts that I give them.

Happy Birthday Mom!

The second sock.

So the second sock seems to be moving along much faster than the first. I cast on my first sock around...10/13? 10/12? And was apparently working on the heel on 10/20. That's a week before getting to the heel. I cast on for the second sock on Saturday (11/7) and I started my heel flap last night  (11/11). That's only 5 days. I'll probably even finish the flap tonight and start working on the gusset decreases.

... or not. I just realized I have a test I need to take for my geography class by tomorrow. Aw crap.

Um so yeah, the sock knitting has been going swimmingly. Maybe I'll get back to it tomorrow after I fail miserably at that test.


***ETA*** Ok so maybe I did get some sock knitting done tonight. Finished the heel flap, turned it and picked up the gusset stitches. This bad boy is just flyin' on by.

Productivity

I finally got to have a boring weekend in which I had no social obligations and no need to entertain my dear boyfriend. Therefore I got to do what I really wanted to do for the past several weekends when I had 'other' things to do. I got to knit like a fiend. I worked on two baby hats (finishing the one seen here, Baby Odessa), finished my mitten from the previous entry and started on my second sock finally.

This hat was intended for a 2 1/2 year old but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's just way too small and will wind up being for her little sister once she grows into it. The other baby hat I'm working on was confirmed to be the right size by the father (I'm a TERRIBLE judge at babyhead circumference) but I do not like how the decreases are going on it at all. I've kept working on it and then putting it down after a few rows. It's not looking the way it should and I think I may be interpreting the directions wrong. It says to K3, K2TOG, Con't to end of needle. Next needle K3, K2TOG, Con't on to next needle and so on and so forth. I read that as one decrease per needle but perhaps I should be doing k3 k2tog, k3, k2tog and so on? If anyone has any input, it's the Fresh Picked Baby Hat. I think I'm at the point of ripping it back to the beginning of the decreases and starting over. I just don't like the way it looks at all.

I am super happy with the way the mitten turned out. The thrumming thing is kind of a PITA, but it makes for an awful cozy mitten. They weren't lying when they said those bad boys are warm either! I had it on for less than 5 minutes last night and my hand was almost sweating. They should be quite serviceable for those wacky New England blizzards.

Photography

Slowly I am trying to work on this photography thing. Today I picked up some white posted boards to use as a back drop for my knitted items. I also got a lamp w/a nice natural light and dug out my tripod for my camera. It's not 100% better, but I'm getting there. I'd love to figure out how to make my background completely white like Eskimimi's projects. Unfortunately I don't have photoshop and I barely know how to work Paint.net. Here's my first effort.

(edited)



(unedited)


There's only so much I can do the my point a shoot. Maybe one day I'll have a real camera to take pretty pictures with.

Brief Update...

Just a quick update so you won't be worried that some enterprising young zombie hunter has done me in.

Baby Hat # 2 (or 3? Who knows at this point) is at the halfway point (I think...). Should be able to wrap that one up by the end of the week. It will be similar to the baby hat I posted down below. Same yarn, but I'm doing a small version of Odessa since it is such a fun pattern to knit and the little girl that is getting it is rather stylish.

I also started on my thrummed mittens this week. (Right on time! Just like I planned! OMG!) The first mitt is moving along quite swimmingly! Worsted weight yarn and larger needles help it work up quickly. It's so Fluffy! and Squishy! It makes me wish I lived in some butt ass cold climate so I would have a reason to wear them. But alas it doesn't get so cold in Virginia. I'll have to knit some plain ol' mittens for myself. No smoosh for me!

I've recently been eyeing drop spindle kits on Etsy. I'd love to learn how to spin yarn, just to further my obsession a bit. But I'm making myself hold off for now as my knitting time is pretty limited between, work, homework, class and my boyfriend insisting on hanging out with friends every weekend. Maybe I'll buy one for myself closer to Christmas as a present to myself for getting all of my knitting presents done (or mostly done...or at least halfway done.)

And holy crap, I got nominated for some sort of blogger award. I will post on that soon, but gosh, way to make a total n00b feel good about herself!:)