Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Knitting on Lighthouse Dish Cloth

Yesterday after finishing my 4th pair of socks this month, I decided to start knitting this Lighthouse Dish Cloth. I managed to get the Dish Cloth almost finished before going to bed last night. Then this morning I finished it up and decided to start on a second one. I'm using Peaches n Cream Light Blue Worsted Weight 100% Cotton Yarn, with size 7 circular knitting needles. The pattern was written by Rhonda K. White. I love knitting her Dish Cloth Patterns. They are really easy to follow along while knitting.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tic Tac Toe Up Socks4

Wooohoooo, I finished my Tic Tac Toe-up Socks today. I stopped packing long enough to finish this pair of socks. I just love this pattern. Yah, it wasn't as simple to memorize as the Diagonal Lace Socks or the Dead Simple Lace Socks. However, it was really fun to knit the X's and O's in these socks.

I did make a simple mistake in the mate this afternoon, but I fixed it and went on. The mistake was do to my not paying attention to the pattern as well as paying attention to my knitting.

I love knitting with Lorna's Lace Sock yarn and will definitely be ordering more to knit up socks with. There's lovely solids, multicolors and striping. I can't wait to try more of these yarns!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Moving

Moving home to Massachusetts. Our house didn't sell and we can't afford to pay the rent and a mortgage too anymore. So, here we are with most of our stuff still in boxes, (we did cut the boxes open to see what was in each box)except for my business stuff. Now we need to go around and retape each box and maybe repack some of them. Then repack all my business stuff, which we're doing a little each day. We repacked a lot of boxes yesterday, along with some dishes and kitchen items. Still need to pack up pots and pans though.

Our official moving day is October 23rd. Moving company is coming on Wednesday to give us a quote on what it will cost to ship my car, boxes and 2 chairs. When we moved out here in May we only had boxes on the moving van. We had drove my car out here, as hubby had flown back to Massachusetts and left his car here in AZ.

When I'm not packing though I'm knitting or reading emails. I will bring plenty of knitting on the trip home, as I just can't sit in the car and not do anything. Hubby likes to do all the driving, so this leaves me free to knit. LOL

Friday, September 25, 2009

Tic Tac Toe Up Socks3

I meant to finish up the first sock yesterday, but after knitting for so long I had to put it down for a few hours. When I picked it up last night to knit on, I only got a few more rows done on it. So first thing this morning at 6:08 am I picked it up and finished up the last bit of the leg and started on the 1 inch cuff (which is only 10 rows for me). Then I put it down to go and eat breakfast, only to come back and cast off the stitches on this sock.

Shortly after that (while hubby was making a few phone calls), I cast on using Judy's Magic Cast On for the mate. I was able to get the cast on going better on this sock the first time around (no, loose cast on stitches). Because we had to go out and run a few errands, I was only able to get 38 stitches cast on. However, when we returned I sat down and finished casting on the remaining stitches (66 stitches total).

Now all I need to do is get busy knitting on the Tic Tac Toe Up pattern for the foot.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tic Tac Toe up Socks2

Yesterday, I finished up the gusset on this sock and started on the heel turn and heel flap. I managed to get that done with no problems and then continued on. When I stopped knitting for the night I had the first 24 row pattern repeat on the leg almost finished.

This morning I picked it up and finished up the last 3 rows of the 24 pattern repeat. Then I continued on and did another 28 rows before stopping to fix breakfast. I should finish this sock either by tonight or early tomorrow morning. Then I can start on the mate.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tic Tac Toe Up Socks

I started on these socks yesterday around 11:36 am. However, I couldn't get my Judy's Magic Cast On to look right and kept frogging it. Finally after much practice I got it to finally look the way it was supposed to be. Before it was too loose and I couldn't tighten it up. I finally got it though.

Once I got the cast on squared away everything else started falling together. It was a little awkward at first doing this Magic Loop, but I'm used to it now. Last night I stopped knitting on this sock just 3 rows shy of finishing the second repeat.

This morning at 6:05 am I picked up my knitting and finished off the second repeat. I then measured the sock to see how much more I needed to knit before starting the gusset. I have 5 1/2 inches then and needed to have 6 3/4 inches. So I went back to knitting and completed half of another repeat measured again. I found that I now had 6 1/2 inches and only needed 1/4 of an inch left. I figured that was just 2 more rows, so I knitted 2 more rows and measured again. I was right! I now had the 6 3/4 inches I needed. I then knitted across the instep following the lace pattern and then on the sole I began the increase for the gusset.

I then put my needles down and went to fix myself some breakfast. I'll pick up where I left off here in a little while.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Diagonal Lace Socks3

Finished these socks this morning. Well, actually I finished one last night, and the mate this morning. I love the way these socks worked up. I might use a solid color though, on the next pair I knit with this pattern. I think the pattern in the yarn detracts from the pattern in the socks. I do love this yarn though and will definitely use it again, just not with this pattern.

Now I just need to make a label for these socks and another pair of socks then list them on my website. Then I need to look through patterns and yarn again and get busy knitting up another pair of socks.

Happy Knitting!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Another day another pair of sock almost finished

I've been so busy knitting on these [Diagonal Lace Socks](pattern) by Wendy Johnson, that I'm almost finished with them. I hope to finished them sometime today. I did make one mistake on both of these socks, when joining the instep to the heel flap. The mistake was due to a hole in one side of both socks, where the joining didn't come together very well.

I frogged back down on both of these socks to where the joining began and fixed my mistake. Now I have just need to finish up the legs on both these socks and knit the 1 inch cuff. The pattern looks great so far dispite the fact that the Diagonal Lace pattern goes in the opposite direction of the original pattern.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Good Spinning Day

Spinning Day at Spinning Ginny's went fairly well. I finished filling up the second bobbin and started plying up the 2 singles of Majestic Sky Merino/Silk. It really felt good to sit behind my spinning wheel and spin wool again.

Just the feel of the wool in my hands was enough to keep me spinning through out the day. Sometimes my hands would start to fall asleep or my feet would get tired moving the peddles up and down. When this would happen, I'd know that I had been spinning far too long and needed a break.

So up I'd get and take the dogs outside for their little romps in the backyard. When they were finished we'd come inside and I'd get something to drink and do some stretches etc. Then after about 20 minutes I'd go back to my spinning wheel, give it a good oiling again and then start spinning all over. All in all it was a good day of spinning.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Spinning Day at Spinning Ginny's

Well, I've been up since 4:30 am. Hubby was getting ready for work and my dogs woke me up. So after letting them out to do their thing, I decided to sit down at my spinning wheel and spin. I'm still spinning up my Majestic Sky Merino/Silk. I'm almost ready to ply up a third skein of yarn.

When I first started spinning up this wool I finished up a skein really fast then I knit up a pair of Ladies size 7 socks with it. They turned out great! I then spun up a second skein of yarn and put it on my desk to print up a label for it......never got around to printing up the label yet.

Then I got on this kick of using up some of my sock yarn stash to knit up socks for my website. This took me away from my spinning for a while..............hence not finishing spinning up this wonderful Majestic Sky Merino/Silk Wool.

Now that I'm making today my spinning day I may just get another skein spun up. I really want to finish spinning this wool up so that I can start spinning up my White faulkland Wool and my English Garden Merino Wool. I have lots of other wool in bags in my spinning room as well......just can't remember all the names of what I have.

I love sitting at my spinning wheel spinning up wool. I love spinning up new fibers as well as what I have left over on bobbins (have quite a few bobbins with left over spun yarn on them).

Really love spinning Llama and Alpaca as its really soft and spins up really fine. Now Camel Down is nice too but, I don't get a nice thinly spun yarn with it. Maybe its just the way I spin it or something like that. Spinning up Tussah and Silk blend wools are really nice too. This wool is soft and silky to touch and when knitted into socks, or scarves.......oooo, just love it.

I like to spin mostly on my Ashford Kiwi Student Spinning Wheel but I do have a Drop Spindle that I spin with now and then. I'm just not that good at spinning with a Drop Spindle as I am with my Spinning Wheel. I guess I just need to spin more with my Drop Spindle to get some more practice at it.

Anyway's its going to be a spinningly great day here at Spinning Ginny's. I'll be spinning all day long with breaks here and there to rest my hands. I'm putting my knitting on hold for today although, I do need to finish a pair of socks too.

Time to oil the spinning wheel for a long day of spinning.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Diagonal Lace Socks2

Day 2: I have now finished the 6 1/2 inches that I needed to knit before starting on the gusset. I've completed 4 rows of the gusset. I need to have 55 stitches on the sole of the foot for the gusset and so far only have 37 stitches.

Next time I knit these socks I may go down a needle size as up close these socks look like a large instead of a medium. I mainly use 2.75 mm dpns to knit my socks but I may have to invest in 2 mm dpns and smaller. I know that I want to try knitting socks with circulars some day so I may even buy some circulars in this size as well.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Diagonal Lace Socks

Day 1: Actually started on these socks yesterday. Took the picture this morning. I had a little trouble with the figure eight cast on at first. My fingers were all thumbs and my hands were hurting that it made it hard for me to try and knit. So I put my knitting down for about an hour.

After resting my hands I came back to my knitting and was able to get the figure eight cast on to work on the first sock. However, by the time I had got 29 stitches cast on both needles (for a 58 stitches), I needed to stop and start cooking dinner.

Then after dinner I went back to my knitting and finished casting on the remaining stitches. I ended up with the 66 stitches that the medium pattern called for and then started working on the diagonal pattern design.

I put my knitting down finally at 11:01 pm last night with only the first sock cast on, with the first pattern repeat finished. Then this morning I cast on, usingin the figure eight cast on again for the mate. I didn't seem to have any problems with the cast on this morning.

I continued knitting on the second sock until I had all 66 stitches and the first pattern repeat finished. Now I can just work back and forth on both socks. I need to knit on the foot until I have 6 1/2 inches before I start on the gusset.

Onwards and Upwards!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Lacy Ribs Socks4

Day 4: Last night I finished the first sock and this morning I finished the mate. I really thought that the gusset, heel turn and heel flap on these toe up socks was going to be hard. However, I just followed the pattern and everything went just perfectly.

I love how they turned out! This yarn "Alchemy Juniper* Amethyst Colorway is just wonderful to knit with. The socks come out feeling really soft.

Oh and I'm loving all these Wendy Johnson patterns from her *Socks from the Toe-up* book. The patterns are just wonderful to knit from. They are really easy to understand and knit from.

I'm looking at possibly starting on another one today.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Lacy Ribs Socks3

Day 3: Yeah! I'm almost finished with the gusset. I have 5 more stitches to increase (2 on either side and 1 in the middle). Then I'm ready to start on the heel turn. So far it seems fairly easy.....well the gusset part does anyway. We'll see how the heel turn goes.

I've read the pattern through throughly and the heel turn sounds easy enough. However, I won't really now until I actually start working it. I'm used to doing socks from the top down and really know what to do when it comes to doing the heel flap and heel turn. This is only my third toe-up sock and my first with a gusset and heel turn in it.

I really love knitting with this Alchemy Juniper yarn. I've always loved knitting with my handspun merino but this is a 4 ply with very thin strands. Where as my handspun is a 2 ply worsted weight (I call it a lace weight, where some would call it a fingering weight), yarn. I will definitely buy more of this Alchemy Juniper. I know that it splits fairly easy, but so do a lot of yarns. I just have to pay more attention to what I'm doing when knitting.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Lacy Ribs Socks2

Day 2: I now have both socks started and the foot almost finished. They both measure 5 1/2 inches from the beginning of the toe. I only need to knit 3/4 of an inch before starting of the gusset.

The picture in the book shows the pattern of the sock stretched out on the feet. Off the feet the pattern is really puffy and pronounced. This could be due to my using a solid color for the socks, compared to the multi-colored sock in the picture.

I like the way they both look, solid or multi-colored. I am again using Alchemy Juniper but this time the color is Amethyst (purple). I'm on a solid color kick right now. Although, I do have some multi-colored yarn in my stash.

Even though, this yarn splits easy, I love the softness of this Merino yarn. This is only the second pair of socks I've knitted up with this yarn.

This pattern is only a 4 row repeat pattern, but I like to mark the beginning of the repeats with markers. I measure at the end of every 4th row to see how long the foot is. I need to start the gusset 3 inches short of the foot length. The total foot lenght for these socks is 9 1/4 inches (Size 6 1/2 Ladies). So I need to only knit 6 1/4 inches before I start the gusset, which means I only have 3/4 inches left to go.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Lacy Ribs Socks

Day 1: (Actually last night) This pattern called for using either a Turkish cast-on, Figure 8 cast-on, or a Judy's Magic cast-on. Since I have never done either of these cast-on's, I choose the Judy's Magic cast-on. I had read on Ravelry that it was a fairly easy cast on to try, so off I went to try it out.

Now, I'm left handed and my knitting is actually backwards compared to a right handed knitter. So when I went to try Judy's Magic cast-on, it was very awkward to knit (no problems with the wraping the yarn around the needles). I think I pulled it off the needles 4 times last night before I finally got it knitted right.

Once I had the first row knitted, the adding stitches at the beginning and end of both needles wasn't a problem. After 1 hour and 36 minutes of knitting I had the toe and the first pattern repeat (4 rows), finished.

Now, I just need to start on the mate and get it caught up with this sock. Onwards and upwards from here on in. LOL

Monday, September 7, 2009

Dead Simple Lace Socks5

Day 5: Finishing Day! Yippee! Hooray! First sock finished for the SKASEP09 Sockdown. Oooo, I just love these socks. They are just so, so soft! Yah, the yarn split some while I was knitting them, Other then that, no other problems occured.

This was my first ever Wendy Johnson toe-up pattern and I didn't have any problems with the pattern. I also did these socks taat on dpns. I just had a problem getting the measurement for the foot. That was my own problem though, as I didn't read the measurements that I wrote down right. So I ended up ripping out twice. After finally reading my foot measurements right on the third time, I was able to get the foot finished with no more problems.

I will definitely knit up more Wendy Johnson Toe-up socks in the future. I'll probably do one that has a different cast-on and different heel technique though. so that I can learn new techiques.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Dead Simple Lace Socks4

Day 4: I was going to post this on Friday, hubby and I ran errands and I didn't get around to taking the picture until yesterday. Then I couldn't get my computer to upload this picture from my camera until today.

In this picture the leg is about 3 1/4 inches in length. The leg needs to be 6 1/4 inches long, so I only need to knit 2 more inches. Then I will knit a 1 inch cuff (like the pattern calls for), to make up the total length of the leg.

I hope to have these socks finished by Monday sometime.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Dead Simple Lace Socks3

Day 3: This morning when I picked up my socks to start knitting on them. They didn't look long enough in the foot after I had finished the heel on one of them yesterday. So I looked in my note book for the measurements that I had wrote down for the size 6 ladies. I noticed that I wroted that the measurements from the heel to the ball of the foot were 7 1/4 inches. However, I also had wrote down that the toe measurements were 1 3/4 inches, so the total foot length was supposed to be 9 inches.

However, this was for a sock being knit from the top down. So with these toe-up socks I had to think differently. According to the book I needed to subtract 2 1/2 inches from the total foot length. But the toe on my socks was only 2 inches in length before the pattern started. So I only deducted 2 inches from the total length and that told me I needed to knit the foot of this sock 7 inches instead of 5 1/4 inches (which is what I had this morning).

So I frogged the heel and then knitted the foot to 7 inches in length on one sock, and then started knitting on the mate until I had 7 inches on it as well. After dinner I finally got the heel finished on the first sock and only just now finished the heel on the mate.

Tomorrow I can start knitting on the legs of these 2 socks.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Dead Simple Lace Socks2

Day 2: I now have 2 socks to knit on. I knit a few rows on one then put it down and knit the same amount of rows on the mate. I am now working on the heel on both socks.

I originally was going to make these socks a size 7 Ladies. Only I got a request for them to be made into a size 6 Ladies instead. So according to Wendy Johnson's book the foot should be 2 1/2 inches shorter then the desired length of 7 1/4 inches. So I deducted 2 1/2 inches from 7 1/4 inches and came up with 4 3/4 inches for the foot before working on the heel. That's what I have right now on the foot. So now I can continue working on the heel.

I'm really liking how this pattern looks with this yarn. I even think I'm getting better at knitting toe-up socks. Well, that's just my oppinion!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Dead Simple Lace Socks

Day 1 of skasep09. This morning I was up at 5:33 am, but I didn't start knitting on this sock until around 5:58 am. I started this sock with the provisional cast on of 32 stitches. I worked up until I had 12 live stitches (as I wanted a little bit smaller toe area). Then I started working down the other side of the toe until, I had 32 stitches back on my needles. That's where I stopped for now, on this sock. Now I just need to cast on for the second sock, as I want to work both at the same time.

I'm using Alchemy Juniper Champagne sock yarn for this pair of socks. The pattern I'm using is Dead Simple Lace Socks by Wendy Johnson. This is only my second pair of Toe-up Socks ever. I like this yarn so far as its really soft. This is the first time ever using this yarn. I do find that it splits fairly easy though, so I will have to watch my knitting with this yarn.

Patricias Socks2

I finished my mom's second pair of Cotton Lang Jawoll Socks. I finished them on Sunday August 30th. Yesterday I printed up the label for this pair of socks. Then I wrapped up both pairs and mailed them off. Unfortunately I forgot to take the picture of this pair of socks before wrapping and mailing them off to my mom. My mom's been so excited about getting these 2 pair of socks that, I just mailed them off with out thinking about taking the picture of the second pair. Oh well! Maybe my mom will take a picture of them for me and then I can post the picture later.