random threads

I’m on a roll at present with finishing. On Saturday, I went to Knit-n-Sit-n-Listen at my LYS, listening to part 2 of Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber, and worked exclusively on my Regia Bamboo toe-up socks for three hours. I got to within 2 or 3 rows of finishing and then headed off to see “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” at the movie theatre.

And last night I finished them off, again using the kitchener stitch bind off. As I said before, the fit is too loose on these for my taste, so I popped them in the washer on HOT and a run through the dryer–they seem a bit better, even tho’ the wool is superwash and the yarn is 45% bamboo.

I finished the toe-up socks for Mom in Cascade Fixation on Friday. I got the second sock knit in a week–woot! The toe start was using a Turkish cast-on I learned in my sock class at my LYS, Baskets of Yarn. The heel was based on the note from Maia here at her blog, Maia Spins. I definately prefer this heel over the one I learned in class which had a VERY large gusset and a baggy-loose fit. I still am searching for more alternatives for toe-up heels, and plan to try out the method Miriam uses, posted on her blog, MimKnits, here. The end results of Miriam’s method looks like a top-down heel, which is what I am looking for. I still like short row toes and heels, also, but the fit is not always as good with those. Miriam’s method also looks very similar to Widdershins from Knitty Summer 2006, which may just be the pattern for my next socks to be cast on, for my Dad, since I’ll be using Wildfoote for his.

For a stretchy bind off, I used the Kitchener Stitch bind off as described by Charlene Church in More Sensational Knitted Socks. It was a bit of fiddling to get the 1×1 ribbing put onto two needles, one with all the purls, one with all the knits, but the end result was nice and not-too-tight.

The stitch pattern for Mom’s sock was Undulating Rib, based on Ann Budd’s Undulating Rib Socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. However, I changed the increase used from her method of knit, purl, knit in the same stitch to make 1 right, knit, make 1 left instead. It results in a less-holey look, which I prefer.

Well, despite the fact that my progress bar at the right is not reporting on my sock progress, (I haven’t figured out why it is repeating the Pagode statistics) there is progress happening! I attended my second class on Toe Up socks, two at a time via Magic Loop at one of my LYS, Baskets of Yarn last Saturday. With some dedicated knitting time since then, I have almost finished the gussets. The teacher (and LYSO) generously is allowing us to return for the next class which is three Wednesday nights in July to get more help with the heel turn and the bind off (that part I’m particularly anxious to get a stretchy but not too tight edge).

So far, the fit looks good. As usual, click on any photo to go to a larger image (these are on my Flickr account).

I have the second installment of my sock-knitting from the toes up class coming up this Saturday, where we will learn to do the heel from the ‘ground up’ so-to-speak. I have been good and done my homework–knit the foot until 3″ from the back of the heel. So good, in fact, I did start over my mom’s new socks using the Turkish cast on but on DP needles not magic loop. I ripped out a few inches of lace that was terribly obscured by the multi-color yarn.

Vacation was great, as usual, altho’ air-travel was a bit of a nightmare, and the weather in Denver was unseasonably hot–it hit 100° F. on Saturday. At least Sunday we cooled off at alpine elevations over 12,000 feet, where it was in the pleasant mid-60s°.

I didn’t make it to any yarn shops, but hit my share (and then some) of quilt shops. I enjoyed my two classes, a mystery quilt with Charlotte Angotti, where you just sew and sew and sew, and Stack-n-Whack Fans with Bethany Reynolds. The class worked on a sampler, but I had to be different, and made all my blocks the same. I had started a Quilt University class on these same fans a couple of years ago with Bethany, but never got beyond a sample block, and I wasn’t too thrilled then with the fabric I picked out. This time, I love it, and the rick-rack on the edges of the fans adds a fun touch, don’t you think?

What’s another wip when you already have so many? The class I wanted to sign up for at one of my LYS, Baskets of Yarn, was canceled (sit and knit and listen to the The Shop On Blossom Street), so I signed up for the Toe Up socks class to use my store credit. I want to do toe-ups but had not tackled it without this prodding. Turns out this was also magic loop technique on a single circular needle. Here’s my results so far:

The yarn is Regia Bamboo Color in color 1066 (blue, turquoise, fuschia and lime tweed. The Bamboo is soft and warm, and consists of 45% bamboo, 40% wool and 15% nylon. First time I’ve knit with a bamboo-based yarn, and I found it much nicer to knit with than the cotton Sockotta. However, the tweedy effect (I think from the bamboo content) obscures my stitch pattern:

The stitch pattern is Undulating Ribs by Ann Budd in Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave Press.
The design is hard to pick out, but additional pictures when more is knit may show the pattern better. The sock pattern itself is by the LYSO Betsey Macholz.

I’ll also mention the class included 6 hours of instruction (second session in two weeks), the two skeins of Regia Bamboo or Regia Cotton, and  a Size 3 Plymouth Speedway circular needle.  I.did.not.like.it.  The join was not smooth enough and the nylon cord coiled in my way all the time.  Once I got home I started over again on Addi Turbo’s  Size 2.  Still I think the yarn fabric is a bit loose, size 1’s would be better yet, but I’m not starting over again.