Fourth Sock? Ouch.

Bill and I just got back from Chicago. Apparently this is how much I can knit in a weekend. Cast on in the car on Friday, stopped in the car on the way home today. (There was a lot of downtime/public transportation in between.) But Jenn, didn’t you already have two socks started? Yes dear reader, I did. Even though I bought the two skeins at the same time, they really don’t match. I didn’t realize this until I had them in the sunlight. One sock is finished, this is the mate and the third sock from the other skein is about as far along. I don’t really suffer from second sock syndrome but fourth sock syndrome? This is going to be a problem.

I'm not bothered by the fact that the skeins don’t match because I’d already decided I wasn't knitting them for myself after all. It’s not that I don’t love them, I do. I just realized that they are a perfect gift for a very dear person surviving breast cancer. Pink. (Almost) October. It was fated. So the not matching thing was just further proof that one pair was to be for me and the other for my friend.

That said, I am Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on October 13th and accepting pledges.

Back to Normal

I seem to have regained my sock mojo with the new charade socks. I usually spend my lunch hour listening to an audiobook and knitting. It's been a while since I've had a pair of socks that I was excited to work on. Maybe it's fall but all the knitting seems to be coming together. There are my first Socks that Rock, heavyweight in Rose Quartz. The yarn is much thicker than I am used to and I am knitting them up on size 3s. They're going to be very cushy and warm. If I'd had my choice, I would have gone for the mid or lightweight but only heavyweight was left in this colourway. It's good for me to try new things and they are knitting up quickly.

An aside - I seem to be experiencing some operator error with my swift and ball winder. There is too much tension and the first pass balls are too tight. I need to rewind them from a center pull ball, tensioning between my fingers to get them right. Ideas anyone?

Random Wednesday

1. Today’s pictures are a little weak. I was hoping to have more of them to show you. Sophie’s cuteness transcends lousy photography so I thought we’d start with her. What a good puppy.

2. The dolly bag is finished! I’m really pleased with the way this project turned out. It’s just the right size for a wallet and keys and fits nicely at my elbow. Perfect for grocery shopping and other quick errands. I wish I had made the handles a little longer so I could have secured them a little farther in but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. (Except perhaps the fact that she’s finished just in time for Labor Day and Autumn…)

3. I’ve started a new pair of charade socks. I’m pretty sure these are keepers.

4. I washed the yarn from the first charade attempt. It bled. Copious amounts of red dye. It looked like Kool-Aid running off the yarn. I am not happy. It’s going to be a while before this yarn makes it out of the stash again.

5. I am almost to the raglan shaping on the wispy jacket sleeves.

6. I did observe tuesdays are for spinning. The merino bamboo from MI fiber fest is spinning up nicely. Spinning bamboo is a different but pleasant.

A Change of Plans

Remember the charade socks? I kept stabbing my finger to help the stitches across the join in the short circular needle. It was unpleasant. I learned to knit socks on a 12 inch circular. As I tend toward obsessive compulsive, I like to do things the same way every time. DPNs, two circulars, magic loop. I found reasons to discredit them all and stick to what I know. I thought maybe that I hadn’t given two circulars a fair shake and decided to try again. I loved it. I was a convert. Then I noticed this.

See that? My gauge changed. And the dark bit that was pleasingly swirling around the leg now pools. The yarn is Schaefer Anne and while the colorway is not named on my label, it looks exactly like Clara Barton. Some people have been having trouble with bleeding and fading with the Clara Barton colorway. In other yarns, yes, but with my luck at the moment, I’m not taking any chances. I’m ripping out and washing. I must have offended the sock knitting gods because I am striking out big time. The monkey socks became jaywalkers which are also getting ripped out and returned to the stash. Boo.

(I did observe Tuesdays are for Spinning. I’ve started with the merino bamboo and it is coming along nicely.)

Expectations

Okay. The wood sprite socks, so named because the colors remind me of a forest and wildflowers. I really truly loved this yarn. Green and pink are my favorite colors. I loved all the different shades of green, even the slightly pukey, mustardy one. I dyed it myself and was so pleased with the results that I hung on to the skein for quite some time before I was ready to commit.

The socks are not living up to the yarn’s former beauty. I wish you could have seen the skein but apparently I forgot to take a picture. Now, ehhh. If I hadn’t been so jazzed up about the yarn, these would be perfectly acceptable. Do you know what I mean? You get so worked up about something that an otherwise completely satisfactory performance is disappointing. Just the same, we are way past the point of no return here. There will be no ripping out. And no, your eyes do not deceive you. I am, in fact, ready to turn the heel of the second sock and have not yet grafted the first toe shut.

Charade socks. I love the pattern and the yarn is doing this very fun spirally thing. Since the pattern is written on more stitches than my basic sock and the Schaefer Anne yarn seems a little thinner than most sock yarn, I went from my usual sock 1s to size 0s. This is not working out so well. I’m not sure if it is the joins in this specific needle or that the sock is too small to comfortably navigate the 12” Addis but I am constantly having to push the yarn over the join. This involves stabbing my finger with the pointy, metal, size zero needle repeatedly. It is not making for a pleasant knitting experience hence this sock is not moving along very quickly. I am also toying with the idea of ripping it out and using the yarn for a lace scarf. There is a little bit of mohair in there and with the subtle variegation I think it would make very pretty lace. Also this is souvenir yarn so I want to like the end product. (The red was a little hard to photograph. Thank you mister Bill for your valiant efforts.)

On a completely unrelated note, this afternoon I saw a momma turkey and three baby turkeys! They were crossing the road on my way home from getting my hair done. The babies were super cute. The mom was walking really slowly so the babies could keep underneath her and they all had fun little spotty feathers. I stopped to let them cross and watched them as long as I dare (didn’t want to irritate the big truck behind me). I love it! I’ve lived in Michigan for four years now and wild turkeys have in no way lost their charm.