sockies.

They are finished. One pair of socks in 7 days. A new record for me. And they are lovely.

I used 2.25mm DPNs for these bad boys.

I love the manly colour and they look especially good with jeans:

Another Christmas gift down – two more to go!

sockies for daddy-kins.

Remember my gift rant from last post? Well, I felt a lot better once I talked about the reasons that I like gift knitting – and I think in some ways it was a little prayer for something like this, “Please show me some indication that they appreciate the hand knits.”

So on Saturday, my mom says to me, “Do you know how to fix holes in knitting?”

“Yes. Is there something I need to fix?”

“Your father’s socks have holes in each of them and I didn’t think it was fixable.”

“What socks?”

“The ones from a couple of Christmas’s ago.”

“I didn’t know he wore those but yes, I can fix them.”

“He does and that would be great. I didn’t think you would still have any yarn in that colour to fix them with.”

“Yup, I still have it – just in case.”

HE WEARS MY HAND KNIT (and not very well knit since I wasn’t a good sock knitter at that time and they were different sizes/gauges) SOCKS!

We headed to Toronto on Sunday and as I was looking at all the WIPs that I have to finish (mainly sweaters, again from a previous post – no, none of them are finished), I thought, How about I make him a pair of socks for Christmas? If they don’t go well and I have trouble finishing them, no worries because we have another gift for him anyway …

So I raided my stash can came up with very manly Sandes Garn Strompegarn superwash in a brown tweed that I had picked out to knit another striped cardigan but I can get another ball no problem so I am not overly concerned about using this for Dear Dad.

I used the Universal Top-Down pattern from Vogue Knitting’s Ultimate Sock Book since I knit him bottom up socks last time and I don’t think they fit in the heel as best as they could have. He doesn’t have big feet – although he’s 6’ tall, he only wears a 9.5 men’s shoe (yes, I was super lucky and got his feet – my mom wears 10.5), so the sock was only knit until 9.5” from the back of the heel through the foot. My husband wears a 9 men’s shoe so thankfully, as long as they are slightly loose, they will fit Dad perfectly.

Rather than slipping the yarn behind to knit the heel, I slipped it with yarn in front to create a mock seed stitch.

This yarn has acrylic, polyester and wool in it so I am not worried about wear. Besides I can knit another pair!

I will cast the second one on this afternoon and I hope to have them finished before the end of the week …

We are heading to Lettuce Knits tonight to see SweetGeorgia’s Felicia Lo and her trunk show. Who would have thought I would have to travel all the way to TO so see Felicia rather than in our own city? Funny how that happens … I am taking a good friend to the Purple Purl this afternoon as well since she has never been there even though she lives here. It’s sunny here so although cold, it’s a sunglasses day in the center of the universe :)

-r.

gift knitting.

There have been a lot of things happening on this home-front that have kept me a little under the weather so when I was thinking about Christmas knitting, I was getting even more down: Really? I have to knit a bunch of gifts before December 25th and then wrap them and happily give them away?

When I caught myself thinking like this, I stopped myself and asked why I enjoy giving hand-knits for Christmas. Here are the reasons:

1. I love creating something a little extra special for my sister-in-law in Toronto since we don’t see her much and we miss her dearly.

2. Giving something handmade means that I chose the yarn, colours and pattern for the other person – they are “in” the project.

3. It’s not a burden to make things for the ones I love when it’s manageable and lovely.

How can I continue to enjoy holiday knitting without the stress attached?

I think the easiest thing to do is set some ground rules for going forward:

1. No sweaters. I’m not going to say never, but I think commission knitting for sweaters works best in my family.

2. Simple simple simple.

3. And quick.

So, for my sister-in-law in Toronto – where it snows entirely too much – I knit the simple Dolores Park Cowl by Parikha Mehta in Fleece Artist Big Merino. No I don’t like pink and no, it doesn’t look good on me – but for her, it will look stunning and gorgeous.

I added the flower out of the left overs. Again, very simple:

Cast on 20 stitches (leave 8” tail).
Knit one row (creates purl ridge on right side)
Knit one row.
Purl one row.

*Knit 1, make 1* repeat until last stitch, K1.

Purl one row.

*Knit 1, make 1* repeat until last stitch, K1.

Purl one row.
Cast off loosely.

Thread cast on tail through purl ridge and pull tight. Weave in ends. Add button to center. Add pin backing.

I hope your holiday knitting is coming along swimmingly (or knittingly, I should say)! Good luck and we are off to Toronto so talk to you … when we get back :)

-r.

p.s. Yes, the cowl really is this bright. We shot it in RAW format and then auto balanced – the photo is accurate in the colour!!!

unfinished. equals un-bliss.

I am feeling a little frustrated with the number of unfinished projects in my knitting basket. The number unfinished seem to be climbing and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of the reason they are unfinished is because the majority are not simple, fast or easy knits.

Take the first project. Old Penny (Forestry) by Veronik Avery was published in Vogue (Fall 2008) which was their best issue ever in my humble opinion. It’s a very enjoyable knit – but the ripping and re-knitting for fitting purposes has put a damper on my progress towards the final casting off. I was finished and knitting the collar and realized that it was about 3 inches too short. Now I am re-working the yoke and I think the sleeves are too tight so I may have to rip back again.

The second project is an epic tale which will be shared at a later time in another post. Norah Gaughan’s Tilted Duster is still not done. It has been on the needles for a while and I am hoping the skirt starts to come to near completion soon … I am starting to get annoyed with the black. It’s amazing what happens when you start to knit with colour … all of a sudden, boring neutrals not the interesting knit do they make!

Although there are more projects on the needles that need to be cast off and finished, I am only going to share one more that is plaguing me. The Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig is lovely … when finished. Unfortunately it is miles and miles of St st … which I am just plain sick of. I like some challenge in my knitting but I am putting up with simple for the shear love of the finished product – and I have the mostest perfectest yarn for it!

I hope I am not the only one with unfinished projects piling up around them. I think I will feel a lot better once I actually finish just one project – just one. That’s all I ask. I am putting my money on the Tilted Duster as the first one to the gate but at this rate … who knows? Thanks for listening to my little crisis! Hope you are finishing lots in your knitting bag :)

-r.

Garter Cowl.

Gauge: approximately 5.5stitches per inch.

Needles: 3.00mm circulars (at least 32” long – 24” circs and your stitches are all jumbled on top of each other)

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock (MC) and Knit Picks Palette (or an equivalent sock/fingering weight yarn) (CC)

Abbreviations: MC = main colour; CC = contrast colour

Cast on 302 stitches with MC.

Join to work in the round.

Row 1: Purl in MC

Row 2: Knit in MC

Row 3: Purl in MC

Row 4: Knit in CC

Repeat Rows 1 – 4.

Work until ~ 6.5 inches wide or almost out of MC, cast off.

When laid flat, cowl measures 27” long (54” around) and 6.5inches wide.

Enjoy!

-r.