Undercover Escalator Sock Is Art

Undercover Escalator Sock
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I tried to write this weekend, honest I did. Life kept getting in the way (concerts, long drives in the countryside, a fascinating ordination ceremony of a young Unitarian Universalist minister...), coupled by my intense desire to work on my cable lace top. But, I did take the Undercover Escalator Socks on a field trip this weekend. It went to my kids' high school band concert, which was held in the really nice Performing Arts Center for our school district. There was also a really fun exhibit of art pieces by students in the district (Beccano had one exhibited in middle school).


So, since I hadn't taken any photos of the current sock in progress, I took some on the exhibits, to see if it was invisible or not. It wasn't. The view you first see here is a bit of the side with a scupture, but you can also see the center twisted stitches. It's a little blurry, but hey, I am trying to maintain some mystery about the design. But, don't you think the colors are weird? Well, I do. Still, I am "soldiering" on (ha ha, a camouflage joke) and have put a double seed stitch section above what you see here. We'll see how it all comes out. The second view features some lovely devils and a better view of the front of the sock. You can see the YOs escalating in a perky-esque manner.

On the other hand, I am very happy with how the Red Lace and Cable top is coming out. I am really enjoying doing the bottom part, which is in the round and quite fun. It's a relief to see that indeed, the weight of the bottom part does stretch out the top part, which was looking mighty skinny at first. The lace pattern has a tendency to compress itself, like an overly complicated ribbing. Luckily, the cotton yarn pulls the sweater down. I have a feeling this pattern would not be very successful in wool, but would probably be very nice in bamboo, with its drape. I am so tired after work lately that I can't knit much, but I think it won't be too much longer before I am finished.

That's it for my knitting progress. I did get a new book, the one on knitting with thin yarns. Of course I am blanking on the title. Mostly I am doing really well in cutting down on my yarn and book purchases, thanks to having a lot less money these days. I do have plenty of stash, so I am not suffering, honest! I have some fun projects I want to do with yarn I already have. it is helping me a LOT that the LYS owner has stopped ordering so much yarn, so I am less tempted when I go in there, too.

So, all's well. I just gots to find more time to post.

I am still here

New Shoes
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I am still here, but there have been some real challenges in my life that led to so much stress that I haven't been up to writing. Wow, has that new job not worked out! I am so not the popular girl on campus. Oh well, I am working to fix it all, knowing I can't fix others so I better just change what I do. The effort of being unbearably perky and ignoring slights and rudenesses, though, exhausts me, so I am dead when I get home.

I do have finished Green Bus Socks to show, and two new pairs of shoes! The Dansko Clogs are Merrie, which I saw on the Loopy Ewe blog and fell in love with. My previous Danskos lasted over a decade, so I know they will hold up, even if they are expensive. The Rocket Dog sneakers were only $10, so what the heck.

I am spending some time working on new bus socks, called Frog Explosion. They are from Artyarns Ultramerino (and were #19 if you are keeping track of the random number generator). I am using Wendy Johnson's River Run pattern--a very simple lace that I can memorize. I did the gusset a weird way (just today) and will try to photograph that when I get a chance.

Mostly what I am doing is a bit of charity. I thought it would make me feel better about myself to do something nice for someone. There was a mom whose son played lacrosse when my older son did, and she was very sweet, one of those dear Texas ladies with great hair and pep. She was always really nice to me (not all the lacrosse parents were). One day, a number of months ago, she called and was really upset. Her vacuum cleaner had eaten a hole in the afghan her grandmother had knit her many years ago. She brought it to me and it was pretty nasty--a big hole with black stuff from the vacuum all over it. I said I'd try to fix it, but stalled out looking for off-white Aran-style yarn that would match it. I kept looking, as the afghan sat in a bag on the shelf.

Then, last week she called and told me her mom had found extra yarn in a closet--apparently the grandmother had planned to make another one for someone else and never got around to it. Saturday Lacrosse Mom brought me the yarn, and I promised to take a look at it.

When I did look at it again, I thought, well, maybe I will unravel it right under the hole, knit how many rows were messed up, then graft the stitches back. ACK, I hate to graft. Then, it dawned on me. The hole actually was pretty close to the top of the afghan--just 40 rows or so. I figured I could just re-knit it. I patiently got rid of the mess and got the stitches on needles. But, when I started with the new, matching yarn, you could really tell it was new. The old yarn (acrylic, of course) had fuzzed a bit. I did not like the looks of THAT. So, I unraveled the part I had removed, and I think I actually only lost 203 rows' worth of yarn where the vacuum cleaner attacked.

Now, I am happily re-knitting this old afghan, so it can go home to its family. You can't even tell where my stuff starts and grandma's ended. I got pretty close to her gauge! It will take a few days, but it sure will be worth it to return their treasure in good shape. I really hadn't wanted to do a bad job on it, and I think I'm not!

That has immensely helped my sagging self esteem. It's a simple ripple afghan/feather and fan in a classic pattern. I'll write it down when I am finished, and show you the result.

Dragonfly, thanks for noticing I was MIA. I miss writing.

Pansy Posey Sock First Try

Pansy Posey Sock #1
Originally uploaded by sunasak

OK, folks, here is my first try at the Posey pattern from Knitty. The reasons it didn't turn out 100% perfect are myriad, but I must say it looks better than I thought it would now that it's done. And believe it or not, it's comfy!

I do like the picot edge on the top. It actually came out great and is a nice finish. Yes, the toe is dorky. I think the combination of me knitting more tightly on mitered squares than plain knitting, plus the yarn being light fingering weight made the square part a lot smaller than the squares on the originals. I think I may put another row down the instep of the second sock, even if it does mean they will be fraternal. I am also considering knitting the second sock on size 1 needles to see if that makes much difference. Since the width is actually fine, I don't want them much bigger around.

When I was finished, I neatened up my poor attempts at joins down the side. By the end of the sock I was doing it right, so I think the second one will look better in that respect. I was making errors of execution in multiple ways, but now I gots it. So, this was a learning sock. And there is nothing wrong with learning! The Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Light is very pretty, though, and knits up very sturdily. And I do love the colorway.

But wait, there's more! Once again I have two completed socks to show you. I finished the first Green Bus Sock yesterday. I'd just started it Tuesday, so I am quite the over-achiever there, even with much curtailed sock knitting time on Wednesday. It's one fine sock, and I know it will get a lot of day-to-day utility sock wear. Pretty soon I'll have to fire up the ole random number generator to pick another yarn. Life is so exciting here, but like Dragonfly, I am sorta excited about picking those random numbers!

I had another good knitting day at the yarn shop. I was reminded once more that I spelled Katie G's name wrong. I must have a huge mental block, since I insist on spelling her name as if she were a suburb of Houston. I am mainly typing this up to cement the correct spelling in my head! With Jody's sister Katy or Katie at the yarn shop today, plus the blog reader...lots of Kat...s around! And that does remind me that at one point at the shop today we had one Katie, two Susans, an Sue Ann and a Sue Ellen. Good thing neither of the Suzannes showed up! What's best is that once again, I was surrounded by nice friends, and we all had fun learning (today was the Knitting II class with cables).

The other fun thing that's been going on is all us knitters are gifting each other with various things. Jody loaned Lynn her borrowed spinning wheel. Jody gave me her huge and beautiful ceramic pots (and I will try to revive her shrimp plant). I gave Lynn (Titianknitter) my old racing bike (a great bike but it hurts my back too much to ride it any more). Lynn bakes us some delicious banana bread! I loaned one of the Susans my Harmony DPNs. The other Susan gave me a nice gift certificate in appreciation for Lee helping her on her resume. Now THAT kind of reciprocity is what makes a community work.

And speaking of community, Ana of Entrelac showed up at the shop today, which led to a small frenzy of stitch marker buying. I actually got quite a few, since I foresee more than one complex lace project in my summer plans (thanks to that Vogue Knitting wedding feature). They are so sparkly that they are hard to resist, and it helps that they also WORK!! I love how they decorate the work in progress and never snag or slow me down.

Well, that's Suna's Saturday Knitting Report, written from the comfort of my back patio. I must now go get something to barbecue.

Pansy Posey Progress. Etc.

Pansy Posey Progress
Originally uploaded by sunasak

See, it does too look like a sock. Actually, I am now to the end of the squares and going in the round for a bit before starting the toe. People have many comments on this sock, mostly that it is weird, overly sturdy or teeny. All these may well be true. I also have not executed the joins to the squares as beautifully as I might have liked to, but will persevere. This may be one of those cases where the second sock is a lot nicer than the first. But, I honestly predict that these will be wearable.

In the background is a great set of DVDs my son got me for my birthday. If you like the Who, try to find a copy.


I've stuck a picture of the finished Pink Ribbiness sock in here, too. They are soft and comfy. I wore the socks yesterday after work, and got lots of compliments. They are extremely bright, but very endearing. Sheri from the Loopy Ewe even said she liked it after I posted it to their site. It's always nice to see how one of the weird colorways you sell knits up!

Tuesday I had a bad day at work, so combined with lots of bus time, my upset lunchtime knitting, my first randomly generated sock grew very rapidly. Even though I had very little sock time yesterday (didn't ride the bus), I still got well into the gusset of the first sock--which I made longer than usual, too. These are not going to be exciting, since they are 3x1 rib (no, not Thuja--just the same rib pattern, but done at an entirely different gauge and using my own techniques for starting, heel, and toe).

I hope to work on something other than socks this weekend. I still DO need to finish the orange alpaca sweater so I can start on something more summery!

I do want to tell all my friends at Chicks with Sticks thank you for being there yesterday. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have a diverse group of women around who are kind to each other, supportive, and friendly, regardless of politics, religion or other factors. It's a refreshing change from other parts of my life. It's nice to feel like a valued member of a group. So, thank you, thank you to each and every one of you who was there!

Patience Makes a Rectangle Turn into a Sock

Regia Line Steps
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Lots of knitting was accomplished this weekend, thank goodness. One of my goals was to get the Pansy Posey sock #1 into good enough shape that it would stop looking like a misshapen rectangle and start looking like a sock. And I did it! Sunday morning I joined the top edges and made a leg, then I created a fine heel flap and turned heel. I am now almost finished with the gusset portion of the foot. I had a couple of challenges making the join between the sole and the instep ( I tried three different ways of picking up the edges of the instep before I found what is probably the “right” one). This means that the sock will not look 100% perfect. I think I’ll live. Mostly I was relieved to find that the leg part does fit over my leg (my gauge is just a fraction small, probably because the yarn is actually light fingering weight). I am looking forward to moving on down the leg. The joins are a bit challenging, so I can’t turn it into bus knitting, so it will have to be done at home. It’s OK, I will finish eventually. And at least it now LOOKS like a sock.

One of my readers commented to me (in person, whoa) that I sure seem to churn out the socks. To me, it seems like I am slow compared to other people, but then I keep reading blogs of people who knit every waking moment, which I can’t do. The bus is really, really helping, however.

Speaking of that, since I am in mid-foot on #2 of the current bus socks, I’ll be done by tomorrow at the rate I am going, so I need to choose the yarn for the next bus socks. As promised, I used a random number generator. It said: 77. A visit to my Ravelry stash page informed me that I had chosen a big blob of green yarn with little bursts of two or three other colors that make random stripes (see photo). I lost the ball band for this yarn, but luckily Ravelry made it easy to figure out that the yarn was Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Line Steps Color. Well, it will be a good one to use up! I had the same yarn in red, and I made it into a pattern with peaks and valleys that brought out the stripes. I may just whip these out quickly with a 3x1 rib similar to Thuja, keeping the ribbing going on the instep. The random number process is so far doing what I wanted: picking yarns that I might not have thought of on my own, but that I really do need to knit up. This was one of the first balls of sock yarn I bought, back when there weren’t any hand dyed options or anything! It will be good to have it see the light as socks.

It was a fun knitting weekend all around, since I had a great time at the LYS teaching a small class of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. It was supposed to be Knitting 1, but since they both knew how to knit (the MIL needed just a little help to remember, and the DIL needed just a little focus to learn decreasing and increasing so she can make more complex things), I let them make what they wanted. The DIL chose a simple lace pattern and we invented a scarf to make, using a nice brushed yarn. It should look pretty good! There were nice folks to chat with, too, so I did not mind one bit teaching an extra long class. I am so obviously not in this for the money! I’d been sorta sad that I have not met any knitters at work, but Katy (hi Katy) came along with news that she will be working near me starting in the fall, so that problem got solved, too. Plus, we had some good visitors, including the coworker who’s been out recovering from knee replacement surgery. It was great to see her. What a good day!

Today isn’t starting out too badly, either. I got a nice note on Ravelry from someone who finished a pair of my Glacier Lake socks, and it sure made me happy to see that something I designed got knitted up and is being worn. It actually looks really cute in the colors he chose, too. This reminds me that I ought to try to write up a recipe (not instructions) for the Wandering Melody socks. You can do the socks using any toe-up pattern you want, just adding the patterning to it, so I’d give more of a recipe than a complete pattern.