WIP Wednesday: June 17, 2015

Last week I was working on two pairs of socks, a test knit and stage one of TDS. I haven't been able to finish stage one yet but I was able to finish the test knit. I only needed to get one sock of the two done. It turned out really well. I'll make the second sock at some point but I'm not going to just yet. 

I've also started a new project. Its yet another sock (do you notice a trend here?) but this one is one that I'm designing myself. I'd been thinking about the design for awhile and I've finally been able to find one that I'm happy with. The chart needs some editing since I can follow it knowing how it works out but anyone else who looks at would think that the chart is off. I'm going to try and have it written up by the end of July if anyone would be willing to test the pattern for me.

As far as stage one of TDS goes, I'm finally on the second sock. I don't have an updated picture or I'd include that. I would like to get it done by Friday for Friday's post but I'm not sure it'll happen. It might, if I go to my LYS' knitting group that they just started. It's on Thursday nights and I can get there if I leave work a little early. I should go, it will be fun to meet other knitters in the area.

WIP Wednesday: June 10, 2015

For awhile I was feeling like I wasn't making any progress on any of my projects. It was also a super stressful late May/early June but things are starting to turn around for me. June 1st was the beginning of TdS and I was able to get a bunch done but at this point I won't finish stage one before stage two starts tomorrow. I think, instead of putting down stage one for stage two, I'll finish it before starting the next stage.

Made a bunch of progress on a sock I'm test knitting. Just have to finish the one sock.

Tour de Sock 2015

Monday is June 1st, which is the beginning of Tour de Sock. Each year I get really excited and then I never finish the socks. Sometimes I even end up frogging the ones that I do. Maybe after the tour I'll go back and knit the ones I like most from the previous year. I've been meaning to do that but haven't yet. This year will mark my fourth one. Each year, possibly each pattern, I learn something new. Stage one of last year taught me a new heel that I haven't yet gone back to. I need to. I'm not sure if there is a beading stage each year but I know there is one this year and there was one last year. I've bought plenty of beads, enough colors for any yarn I might decide to use. The only thing I'm a little worried about though is if the beaded sock is stage three. We've been given what days each stage is released. Stage three is the one that will travel with me when I go visit Jackie in MA. I can knit a lot of things on the go but I think beads are one of the things that makes it really hard to do. Every time I've done a beaded project (not a lot) I've stayed at home when knitting it because I didn't want to run the risk of losing all my beads. I always drop some.

Other than hoping that the beaded stage isn't stage three and having other socks to knit if it is, I'm excited. Stage one is the sport weight sock. There was no way I wasn't going to need to buy yarn for the tour. I don't buy sport weight often. I went a little overboard I think. It just means I'll have other sport weight socks I'll be able to make. At first I was only buying one skeins but they're listed as 100g. The details for the sock of stage one say 150g so I went back and bought more. Part of my trip this summer is redoing my stash. Although with the projects I want to buy yarn for I might not get to buy yarn just for buying yarn but we'll see. Even if I can't, as I work through some of the yarn I don't know what to do with I want to start buying some of the weights I don't work with much like Sport and DK. I'll only buy yarn for Bulky and Super Bulky when I have a project that needs it. I'm giving away most of my acrylic stash because I honestly don't use it and would be much happier with a mostly wool stash.

Happy knitting!

Catching Up

I've noticed a trend in when I don't have a lot of time to knit, I stop blogging. For awhile there wasn't much to talk about in the way of knitting and not a lot has been going on in my life outside of that. It took me awhile but I finally finished Stacie's baby blanket and was able to give it to her before she had her daughter. Who is super adorable. Aside from the blanket, I've been working on WIPs to try and get some done before I go on my trip to see Jackie and go to WEBs. Because I will be bringing home yarn.

There was a period of time after I finished the blanket where I kept starting things. The first thing I started was a Torchic amigurumi for my Etsy store. And then not long after that, Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro. Neither are done yet and I'm pretty sure I haven't even finished the first piece on both. Totoro looks like it is going to be bigger than I want it to be but we'll see, since the pattern claims it will be 9" tall. Amigurumi are always hard to take pictures of when they're in progress because they don't really look like much of anything until you start putting them together. And the ones I'm working on currently have a ways to go before that point.

In April I decided, possibly against my better judgement, to test knit a sock pattern for someone. The sock was actually pretty easy but I just kept not working on it or being too tired that it took me longer than I wanted it to. What it also did was inspire me to start designing socks again. I have the first one charted but I don't know that I'll get to knitting it this month. I did finally finish the pair of socks for the test knit. The test only required the first sock. I was going to start my design sample after that but Tour de Sock is coming up and I want as few socks on my needles as possible before it started. I still have two socks on my needles, one of which has no chance of getting finished before June.

But I did start something. It, however, is more a bunch of small things instead of one finished things. As I have now listed my small amigurumi of Loki and Thor on etsy I wanted to restart my Avengers set and finish them this time. Two things got me inspired to do it. The first thing that got me inspired was Saint Seiya. I won't go into it too much because it is my current obsession. But, they're releasing a new series for it, 13 episodes long, called Soul of Gold and it brings back some of my favorite characters. When I saw the character designs for all of the Gold Saints, I immediately wanted amigurumi of them. Sadly, I don't have enough of the colors to really finish any of them. I thought about doing the Avengers again but wasn't sure I wanted to. And then I saw Rae's ami of Bucky and fell in love with him. I am very much a fan of Bucky so I knew who I would start the Avengers set with, as I was reinspired to do them, with Saint Seiya on the list to do when I can afford to buy more of the yarn I like to use for the amis.

Okay so, Tour de Sock. If you don't know what that is, each summer during the time frame of Tour de France, there are two competitions that happen on Ravelry - Tour de Sock and Tour de Fleece. Tour de Sock is sock knitting and Tour de Fleece is spinning. I don't know as much about Tour de Fleece even though I'm going to try and participate this year, just that it starts after I get back from my trip. Tour de Sock starts June 1st. There are 6 stages and it depends on how complex the socks are for how the stage is. I think 2 weeks was the longest I've seen it. I've done TdS for several years now, although I have very few of the socks actually knitted. You don't have to do the strict competition. You can either do a relaxed knitting or just cheer on the teams. At first I was just going to cheer others on and knit as I could, but decided I did want a team.

There are several yarn shops, like Alina Shea Creations, that puts up yarn for TdS and has a coupon code that puts the yarn on sale. I didn't go crazy buying yarn like I could have - I have to save that for WEBs. But I did get a few skeins. I'm super excited for the Tour this year. The supply list requires beads for one sock so I found a bead shop online (www.fusionbeads.com) and ordered enough to get free shipping. Until now I've not really had a bead supply for knitting so I'm happy that I was able to. One day, when it isn't time for TdS I will go back and knit the socks from previous years. I am sad though, I didn't think that I had lost the patterns for last year's TdS so didn't download them before they were taken off the website. Now I can't find them and I think they were lost when the harddrive on my desktop died. I still have a couple of them, I think.

In the time between now and when TdS starts, I'm focusing on trying to finish WIPs and get a few of the Avengers amigurumi done. Iron Man is half done now. I picked up my Tardis socks again, which will be listed on etsy when I am done with them. I may be able to get the first sock done tonight. This weekend is going to be a busy one for me because my friend is graduating college on Saturday so I need to drive out to Mom's so I can go see her graduate.

I hope everyone has a lovely rest of their week and happy knitting!

WIP Wednesday: 9 to 5 Socks

At the beginning of the year I had planned to make the set of musketeer socks. I was making good progress on the first until I was mostly done and tried on the sock. The cast on for the cuff was too tight. I would be able to wear it but not comfortably. I have always had trouble off and on with the cuff cast on or the cuff bind off, depending on how the sock is started. I tried to just restart Athos. It turned out that I had lost all desire to work on any of the set. So instead I spent some time looking at sock patterns.

I wanted something toe up but nothing I saw caught my eye. I even looked through my books on toe up socks. The hardest part was picking something that wasn't too easy but also that wasn't overly complicated. I eventually found a couple pairs. Ironically despite wanting toe up, the socks I picked are cuff down. I am making them in the first purple I've seen knit picks release since their royalty tonal.

On Tumblr there is a tag called #operationsockdrawer and the idea behind it is to have a sock drawer full of hand knit socks. It's a fun idea so I'm going to tag my socks with that. I've been making socks for a couple years but I don't have that many yet. 

FO: Porifera & Twilight Socks

Two pairs of socks are complete! I just finished one pair and the other was done about a month ago. I waited to post a picture of them anywhere besides Rav because they were Mom's birthday present. I wanted her to see them first.

Porifera was one of the guiding patterns in my purchase of a booklet titled Twist & Knit. Rachel kept talking about them and other patterns from it until I eventually folded. Porifera will probably be the only ribbed pair of socks I do.

Pattern: Porifera Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Wine

Needles: 2.25mm

The pattern for mom's socks was originally written for cuff down but because I like doing my socks toe up better, I converted it. And even learned a way to do the slip stitch heel (most common heel I've seen on cuff down socks) on a pair of toe up socks.

Pattern: Twilight

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Paisley Multi

Needles: 2.5mm

WIP Wednesday: Make Up & Porifera Socks

Today is WIP Wednesday!

I've hardly done any work on my socks in the last week. I had a busy weekend in celebrating my birthday. I was busy having fun and visiting with my brother and friends that I ended up not knitting much. But I did make some progress. Make Up Socks (purple) are through the heel now and Porifera Socks (red) are at the heel. You can see the first one being worked on here:

I have a deadline of finishing both of these pairs of socks by the end of tomorrow. It's not the end of the world if I don't, but I'd be really happy to reach that goal.

WIP Wednesday: Make Up Socks

Today is WIP Wednesday! Over at my home in Ravenclaw Tower on Raverly, we've started posting what we're currently working on every Wednesday. I really like the idea and decided to also post to my blog about what I'm working on every Wednesday.

The project for today is a pair socks for me. They're a beautiful shade of purple and turning out to be a decently quick knit. The pattern is Make-Up Socks from one of my sock books (Joy of Sox).

Of the 5 pairs of socks I've planned to have done by the end of July, I'm nearing halfway there. I have one pair done, another at 50% and this pair is 25%ish.

FO: SKA March Socks!

They're done! SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) has a mystery sock KAL every other month. Sometimes I join in, other times I don't. This time I did and I'm so glad I decided to. The socks turned out absolutely beautiful. I don't ever want to take them off.

Pattern: SKA March Mystery Sock

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Auburn

Needle: 2.25mm

Mods: N/A

FO: Test Knit socks!

I'm so happy. I finished the socks I was test knitting for a friend. They're really comfy and cozy. And a perfect fit! When I'm knitting a pair of socks or such for myself or anyone else, the thing I worry most about is fit. I get frustrated if what I'm knitting doesn't turn out to be a perfect fit. Because then I either have to give what I spent time on to someone else or redo it. This time, it came out right!

Pattern: English Breakfast Tea Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Ivy

Needle: 2.5mm

Project page

Samhain Socks!

I finally finished my Samhain socks. Originally I was going to use a pattern for them but after I got started and saw how the stripes were doing, I realized that they'd be just as beautiful without a pattern. So I didn't use one. Despite how much I love knitting socks, I've only finished three pairs. The first pair went to mom because they fit her better, the second pair needs redoing. And well, here's the third:


This will probably be one of the last times I get to update my blog with finished projects until Christmas. Why? Because I don't want anyone seeing their presents before they get them.

Socks from Germany~

My socks from Kate arrived last week. :D I absolutely love them! She sent chocolate too and it makes me go "om nom nom..." every time I have a piece.

Apparition Socks: finished!

Look! They're finished! I absolutely love them.


The wonderful thing about how small my feet are is that I still have enough left over from this skein to make another pair of socks. I haven't decided on what color I'm going to make my next pair but I do need to ball the yarn. I really do hope I get a ball winder and swift for my birthday next month. It would make winding yarn MUCH easier..

Apparition Socks: One finished!

Look! Isn't it pretty? I can't wait until I get the second one done so I can wear them.


The next pair of socks I want to finish are my Hermione Socks. One of them is 99% finished but I haven't reached the length of the leg that'll make me happy. If I have any spare time to finish that one up after I do my other apparition sock and swatch for my OWL, I'll try to finish it. Maybe there will be a WIP class this term so I can finish the socks. If I had two socks from different patterns to finish, I'd just ask the professor if I could do that. But.. I don't unless I don't even start on the second one of this pair. (Not going to happen. I'm in love with these socks)

Ohmygosh, is it really only six days until term? Gahhh.

Apparition class updates

I'm so excited - the Spring 2010 HPKCHC term is almost here! I'm all signed up and eagerly awaiting the start of term. Until then, I have apparition lessons keeping me busy. First there is the the sock class that I have just caught up on. There are a total of four clues out and I've reached the fourth clue even if I haven't started it yet. And yes, that is the heel you can see. I'll be starting on the foot soon (clue 4).


The other class I am doing is the crochet bag. I haven't even started clue three for it because I've been focusing on my socks (and have a paper to write before Thursday). This picture doesn't show sage green as well as I'd hoped. I am having fun working on a larger crochet project than just bracelets and a dishcloth sized granny square that I did in January.


At some point I'm hoping to find time to finish the pair of socks I started in March and never finished. I got almost one done (I'm still working on the leg) but I mostly didn't feel like knitting in March. The only thing I finished was yet another pair of Fetching to wear Easter weekend. That didn't happen because it was in the 90s that weekend. Ick.

April is Apparition month!

After each 3 month term, I get a month off from HPKCHC classes and OWL work. April is that month. It is also the first month they've brought in apparition projects. What that means is that a few people have patterns they're working out and we can test knit the patterns for them. It's a mystery CAL (crochet-a-long) or KAL (knit-a-long). It means that on certain days of the week we'll get the next part of the pattern to work on for however many rows. Once that is finished, we have to wait until the next part is released. There are three of these going on for HPKCHC, two knit and one crochet. I've decided to do the crochet and one of the knitted ones.

Apparition Bag: My very first crochet pattern to follow and also my first bag. (So far I was confused as hell) I am using colorways Sage Green and Lime Stripes of Lily Sugar n Cream cotton yarn. Size US H hook.

Apparition Socks: Socks knitted cuff down (grumble) on US 1s in fingering weight yarn. I'm using a Wine colorway of Knit Pick's Stroll sock yarn. Pattern is released on Tuesday and Thursday.

I'm really excited and positive I'm going to have a lot of fun with these.

Socks!

I've been knitting a lot lately. The first FO of the year for me is something I kept telling myself I would make and would always find something else to make instead. I told myself it would be a resolution of mine to learn how to make socks. And here they are!

The even fit too! Because they're my first pair and I wasn't exactly the best at making sure everything was tight enough, I'm not sure I'd want to wear them anywhere except around the house to keep my feet warmer. But that won't happen until I stop wearing my wool socks.

I don't think I knit much of anything without HPKCHC anymore. My first pair of socks goes to the January Potions class of the Winter 2010 term. The second option was to make something that would delight Dumbledore. He said it himself, "One can never have enough socks."