Making Monday

This sad first sock should be on Finished Friday, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any more of the white wool. The thin red wool is still a large cake so, I guess I will have to frog this soft sock and find another way to use the white. Maybe smaller socks? I tend to think a child might have problems with the wool. So even making a hat might be a bad thing. Maybe just a toy? Either way, this one has had its chance in the sun and will go back to being a yarn cake. By the way, this one was made on the 24-peg, blue, Knifty Knitter.  It was an experiment of the toe up on a wider gauge loom. It was a fast project so I’m sorry I couldn’t go further.

You have seen sock number one of this pair and the second sock is just ankle and cuff away from making the pair.

This is the metal-pegged loom. I think it is KB. It is not as comfortable to hold or keep my tension even. But I think the pair will be comfortable as house slippers. It is just acrylic yarn so not inherently warm. I love the toe-up, Kitchener cast-on. The rest is flat-knit if tension allows or u-wrap or even e-wrap at times as the tension was hard to maintain. Kitchener cast-on is harder on this rectangle loom. It may be one I use less and less often.

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This is my favorite project. Look! My daughter’s first sock is nearly finished. Just the cuff to finish. What is slowing me down on it is that I am doing a four-by-four purl/knit ribbing stitch using ‘true’ knit stitch. It is very like the purl stitch and more time-consuming. Those purple looms hold the toe-starts to my daughter’s boyfriend’s socks. By knitting two at a time I can keep the lengths the same. I need to order yet another set of the His/Hers KB sock looms as the first one I start her sock on broke. So I transferred the project to the new loom and will order the next set at payday. So I will only be doing one at a time for her socks. It’ll work just not as timely. Looking at the purple looms, isn’t it cool how each skein of yarn starts exactly the same. Each toe starts with red. Because the orange loom is smaller and was my first, I will have to skip the red parts of the next skein to keep her socks even. It is truly an amazing thing to watch as I work! I wish I had been a part of the people who invented this kind of yarn. It is magical! By the way, I love the texture of this yarn, too. It is so soft and being wool will be warm in the colder winters up here or on camping trips.

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Yes, another sock. This is the cuff of a sock. I am trying to learn to needle knit on circular needles. This pair of needles are bamboo. It makes it harder to lose a stitch. The yarn is kind of like T-shirt material as it has no fibers that can be frayed or separated. I figured it would help me see my mistakes more clearly.

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Yep, another sock. This one will be for a child.

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One more:

One of my favorite looms, CinDWood, 56, 1/4 inch gauge. This is donated wool. I know it works up into a nice sock and I have plenty.

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I’m still working on two hats. I find the bigger looms are not as much fun or as easy on my hands as the smaller looms for socks and toys.

Both hats are on KB smaller gauge looms. The one on the left is soft pastels with black. The one on the right is red and white, I think that is HomeSpun. The one on the right is gifted to me yarn so should go to a loved one. The one on the right is donated and so should be for charity. Both should make cozy head warmers.

I think that’s it. I usually keep each project in its own zip-lock baggie. But I do keep them all where I can see and grab the one my hands feel drawn to.

As spring is working its way into our area I probably will have to slow it all down for more outdoor activities. Or find ways to take a project with me to sit and enjoy the sun while knitting, drawing, writing, or reading. Those are all good rewards for a nice walk, don’t you think? How do you do the balance?

The Story of a Sock or Four

So this sock is on its third remake because the loom had a broken peg. I had Gorilla Glued it but yesterday, as I was finishing the ankle part and heading for the cuff it broke again.

 

Ugh! See the broken peg attached by a rubber band to the loom?

Yeah, I can’t toss something if I think I might be able to use it again sometime. But I did order a new KB His and Hers set. Trouble is, even though I ordered off the last order this set of looms is smaller. The same amount of pegs, but I think the pegs are slightly closer.

 

And then I had to move all the stitches on the broken loom onto the new equivalent loom. I used the circular knitting needles to capture the loops and then move them to the new loom.

 

These are ChiaoGoo Red Lace 47 inch Stainless Steel Size 1.5. They did an excellent job for me. I can’t wait to try and make sock on them.

So my daughter’s first sock is nearly finished. I suppose I could give it to her and she can take turns on which foot she’ll keep warm that day? Kidding!  But those purple looms are for her boyfriend. Can you see the difference between the purple on the lower left and the bigger purple above? They are supposed to be the same size. If they turn out to be too different in size I will make the decision of which loom I’ll make the second one on.

Oh, and that sock with the mermaids on it? That is on my foot. Those were a gift from my friend. They are so fun I thought the girls wanted to be a part of the sock party. Okay, back to knitting.

Sh-h-h Elves Be Busy

Another sock.

Is it really a cowl for a small elephant?

Jeweltones?

But it is soft!

Soon this will make a pair.

Making Monday

Besides working on NaNo and now trying to edit a couple of my novels, These are the fun things I’m working on:

A rust color sock of wool on a CinDWood fine gauge, 56 pegs. I’m loving toe-up with the Kitchener cast-on. I can’t decide which cuff I’m wanting to do. Well, I guess it will be a surprise for all of us!

 

This is a fuzzy soft yarn. Sometimes, most of the time, LOL, I don’t know what it is as there are no labels on a lot of the donated yarn. I thought this would make a fun, soft hat. I did the two-by-two (two knits, two purls) brim the rest is the flat knit stitch. This is on the large KB fine gauge. So soft. It’ll probably be done by Friday!

I’m hoping this will be a pretty Boho colored hat. I don’t know if you can tell that blue is turquoise, burgundy, gold, and a sort of magenta. We’ll see. I’m making it up as I go with two strands (two colors) adding the turquoise a little at a time as I don’t have much of it. Oh, this is the KB fine gauge the next step down from the orange one. This is the set. And now I remember the orange is 80 pegs the white is 72.

But wait, there’s more!

Again, another toe-up sock on the KB Adjustable Sock Loom. This is just acrylic yarn. By the way, I find the Kitchener cast on harder on this loom. In fact, I have a harder time with the metal pegs as if it isn’t a bright color then the metal reflects and it is hard to tell if I have the whole strand of yarn.  BUT this is a strong loom and can handle a tighter tension. It will break the knitter, not the loom!

More socking it to ya!

 

Why do I always wait until it is dark to try and take pictures? This gray yarn is soft and has flecks of white, black and pink or lavender. It is bumpy-ish. I have no idea if these will wear well as more than just house slippers as I don’t know what the yarn is. But I’m making two pairs. This is the KB His/Hers sock loom set. I finished the sock you see on the orange, what looks like yellow on the right side, loom. I still have the heel and cuff to go. I started another the purple (His) loom. I’ve just barely got the toe done. The cuff is four-by-four. I kind of like that look.

Though I like this set. My hand like it, now, too. But for a beginner making socks, it can be tragic. I broke a couple pegs when I first started. I’ve used Gorilla Glue to put them back and working oh so gingerly I haven’t broken them again. They are inexpensive so I plan to replace them sometime.

 

I do have yarn to make socks with size 1 knitting cable needles but I feel I should finish a couple of things before I get started. I’m so new at needle knitting that I feel I need to stay with it until I get it right and have a good rhythm going.

Okay, back to the editing. Ugh! It was great having your encouragement along the way during NaNoWriMo. I’ll try to share some of that when I feel it is somewhat people-ready.

 

 

Mindless Monday

I forgot to mention this sock on the post yesterday. It’s a Kitchener toe-up on the KB Sock Loom. It isn’t my favorite loom. But it does come with a DVD to teach one how to knit socks. And it’s a very sturdy loom.

Yay!

Shorty socks. Ran out of orange on the second sock just four rows from the toe part. Husband liked them. I donated to him though it goes on the charity count. I usually don’t donate to friends and family. I use my own yarn for that. But the group has been good about realizing most of us are a paycheck away from needing charity ourselves. Even still, most every project goes to the group.

Oh, I have no idea what kind of yarn this is. It seemed thin enough to make socks. Used the ‘his’ or purple loom of the KB His and Hers set.

Though mostly flat-knit stitch, heel and toe are done with German Short-rows.

Unfinished WIPs

No internet for a 24 hours. I shouldn’t be using my data. But… Unfinished projects. Will any be ready for Finished Friday?

A pair of men’s socks.

Another doll.

A baby hat.

I frogged my 10-stitch. Just didn’t like how it was tturning out.

An adult hat.

Another sock, another loom.

One-liner Wednesday

Another pair of toe-up ankle socks with leftover Heart and sole yarn.

Finished Friday

This week started with a pair of unmatched socks. I didn’t realize it until I took the picture. I kept rearranging until they ‘looked’ matched. But one cuff was two inches longer than the other.

So I tried to think how I could donate, with clear conscience, to my charity. I couldn’t. I thought maybe I should keep them for myself. Nah. So I went through all the yarn hoping to find more of the same color. So lucky to find more. Now the challenge was to make another perfectly unmatched pair.

I did it!

These are the same colors. The cell didn’t photograph these very well. Sorry.

Now I can donate happily! And I think I have enough leftover for one more pair!

These are on the KB Sock 2 loom. It is a larger gauge which makes it great for single strand worsted weight yarn.

The pattern is found in the package. I revised a bit to something like this:

Two-by-two brim (2″ and 4″ respectively) an inch of flat stitch, then heel, then 6 1/2″ e-wrap, then toe.

I love making socks!

The Unyarner

In the life of those of us who spend a lot of time with yarn, there are the ribbit days. You know when you have to rip and rip what you’ve worked so hard to make. They call it frogging. I’ve just lived through a couple of these days that look like this:

(Pixabay)

First, my fine-gauge sock loom broke. When it was just one peg I managed to put the extra loop onto another nearby peg and work it. It was a pain but doable. Then the one next to the broken one broke. There was no way, that I could figure to work the extra loop. I thought I could capture all the little loops on a circular knitting needle but… you know how an idea doesn’t work in your head and just can’t be done.

I had another sock loom in the process, too. But I wasn’t happy with the yarn or the colors. Both socks had the ribbing, leg, and heel done. That’s the hardest part. But I just wasn’t happy with that one and the broken one was useless. There was nothing left to do. Rip it out! And twice my lap looked like the picture above.

It took two days to figure out how I was going to deal with my goal of making a couple pairs of socks. My hero, my husband, bought me some Gorilla Super Glue. My hero, my brother, glued in the pegs. I honestly don’t hold a lot of hope for that loom but it was worth the try. Besides that particular loom is only about $15. If I decide to go that way.

Meanwhile, I found another loom and started another sock. I hope this one lives. I’ll share it when it’s finished. Oh, what the heck. Here’s the life of a yarner!

Hard to believe that this will be a sock looks like a sick tambourine!