Sample Sock

I don't know how many times I've shared my desire to knit socks here. And how many times I've been "welcomed to the dark side" by my sock-knitting friends. I've knitted a few pairs in 8-ply, but they're really only good for lounging around, not wearing with shoes. Now I'm one step closer. This week I finished a sample sock in 4-ply wool on my new knit-picks dpns--2.25mm. The itty bitty stitches make me feel like a real sock knitter. Admittedly it's only one sock and I did it in a child's size, just to make sure I was clear on every step along the way.

I was so pleased with myself that I promptly cast on in my size--thankfully I have a small foot, so it's not that many more stitches to tackle. I've already had the benefit of having worked a sample. I've used the long-tail cast on this time and it looks better than the one I used for the sample. I'm just about to turn the heel. Then I will have gusset stitches to pick up. That will be the next place to learn a lesson. The sample has the predictable little hole at the end of the gusset. I'd like to avoid that if I can.

Woven Star Ball

I am inordinately proud of this woven paper ball.

This is my third attempt over as many days--not counting lots of fiddling and grumbling. You can see it's a rough sample: made with strips of card from the back of a furniture catalogue. I found a tutorial here, but even so the last few steps puzzled me for quite a while. I never was good at 3-D puzzles! I've been looking for things to make that don't involve my usual stitching activities, since my elbow is still giving me grief. Now I've got this figured out I'll see how I go making some with a nicer card.

Reality

When I decided to investigate quilt as you go techniques yesterday I had visions of a systematic process with carefully labelled samples. The reality turned out to be a bit different.

By the time I got to the studio I was less than enthusiastic. The morning was hotter than I'd expected. The weeds are tough and persistent. Digging made me tired, dirty and sweaty. Then I took a while to cool down and clean up. There was laundry to do. And yes, my studio is rather a mess at the moment. . . Are you getting the idea? On the other hand, I had declared that I was going to do something. So I made a quick, rough start. Sometimes just having a go without any finesse isn't such a bad idea. I'll have another go soon. Next time I'll use bigger samples so I can leave a good few centimetres of unquilted edge around each block. I'll trim the wadding more carefully and try to join more than a couple of blocks together. That's the plan, anyway. But I don't think it will be today. I've ended up with a sore stiff back after my digging efforts. Sitting and sewing won't be the best activity for me today. Unfortunately, neither will digging more weeds this morning. And it's going to be another hot day. I might just need to declare myself a holiday and settle down with a good book.

Trimmings

I finished the "easy and blue" scarf yesterday. It's a simple triangle, so really not much to show, except that I had just enough yarn left over to have some fun. Here's how it ended up.

And my conclusion is that next time I'll try some different shaping. The size I got with 100g of 5ply yarn is just the right enough of warmth for this time of year, but with a simple triangle it needs a pin to secure it. I'd like it to be self-sufficient--so I need longer ends to wrap around my neck.

Test Run

I'm checking out some ideas for warm weather knitting. One idea is to make some shopping bags.

This sample is done with kitchen string on 8mm needles, but I have some hand-dyed cotton yarns to use for the real thing.

Progress Report

Here's where I'm up to with my double weave sample: I've worked out my threading on paper, made my warp and am half-way through threading it. So far, no fatal errors. Even though it's a 24-thread repeat sequence that I'm working with, I'm not finding it too hard to keep track of where I'm up to. I guess that's because I spent so long on mapping it out, that I have a mental image of the two different layers. Even so, I won't be answering the phone until I've finished each sequence--they can ring back!