August 2007 Archives

Happy Birthday to my little sister (how can you be 26? When I moved out away to college you were only 16!) and my blog (2! Uh oh.... the terrible twos?)

I'm taking the weekend off, then I'll be back with updated photos of the Cobblestone Sweater, the Monkey socks, and more! Now that summer is winding down, I hope to get back to a more regular blogging schedule.

Photo credit to jessicaerin via flickr.

It's almost September... where did the time go?  I have been busy.... just not busy blogging.  Here we go with a rambling catch-up post:

1.  Knit knit knit - despite my lack of blogging, I have been knitting a lot.  Matt's birthday sweater is done up to the armholes, and I finished one sleeve and joined it to the body of the sweater. 

2.  I started a red scarf for Norma's Red Scarf Project, but I don't really like it.  Any suggestions on patterns for two skeins of solid red Malabrigo (worsted weight)?  I probably need to go play on Ravelry and see what I can find. ETA - maybe Grumperina's Sharfik pattern?  I think I have enough yarn.  

3.  I started the second Arctic Monkey sock.  Love the pattern, love the yarn.... but I totally got two skeins of different dye lots, and I didn't realize it until I started knitting.  I'd say the second skein has about double the amount of white in it.... I think these will be socks that I wear hidden inside tall boots anyway, so I think I'm okay with the socks being fraternal twins.  But it's still annoying.  I got the only two skeins of that color left at the store, so someone else must be having the same problem, too!

4.  Trip to Chicago.  Last weekend I visited Chicago with my sister and two friends that grew up in our neighborhood (one of them lives there).  The point of the trip was mostly just to see each other, but we did lots of fun stuff, like... shop, watch the Chicago Triathlon, eat out at yummy restuarants, play frisbee in the park, look at our reflection in the shiny bean at Millenium Park, buy fake designer sunglassses at the Greek Festival, and ... last but not least... watch an old favorite movie, Adventures in Babysitting.  That really is a good movie - so 80's! 

We now return to your regularly scheduled knitblogging.   

I'm still waiting to get pictures from the race, but here's a quick tri update.... 

The race went great! The swim (300m) went really quick, and I got to meet some nice people and hear about other local races while I was waiting to start. (It was a pool swim with a staggered start.) The bike section (12 mi) was definitely hilly, plus my bike is more of a mountain bike hybrid than a road bike, but I just cranked it down to a low gear and slowly but surely made it up those hills! It was pretty hot by the time I started the run (5K), but luckily that course was nice and flat.

I was felling pretty tired by that point (should have trained more on the bike - I knew it!) but my background is in running, so I just slogged through it. Luckily there were water stops on the course, because I realized after I'd run out of the transition area that I really didn't drink enough water while on my bike.

The best thing about racing (of any kind) is that it always inspires me to do better next time. I've already been out for a 20 mi. training ride (only the second time ever I've gone that far) and I swam 850m last night.  I can't wait for to do another race!  There's one in about a month (Trail of Tears Tri - Cape Girardeau MO) that I might try.  The distances are similar, except the swim is a half mile in open water instead of 300m in a pool. Hmmm.... can I do it?

The first monkey sock is done!  That's one full skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - it's almost a knee sock!  As you can tell, I had to add some calf shaping (although not a ton - I sort of have chicken legs).  I took a better picture of the calf shaping using a milk bottle as a model.  (it's not easy to take a picture of your own calf!)

  

I added calf shaping by doing the YOs from the pattern in between two pattern motifs, for two repeats of the pattern.  On the second repeat, I started the YOs back in the center and moved out again, so at the end of the second set of increases, I had a 5th pattern motif on the back of the leg.  I then increased 8 more stitches by doing the YOs in that motif in the next pattern repeat, but not the pattern decreases (so there ends up being a column of 4 purl stitches on each side of that motif).
 

Knitting a sweater for my husband's birthday is quick becoming an annual tradition around my house.  This year, I had decided on a seamless hybrid raglan by Elizabeth Zimmermann a la b r o o k l y n  t w e e d, but then the IK Fall preview came out, and there was the Cobblestone pullover, this time designed by the genius Mr. Tweed. 

I showed Matt the pictures of both sweaters, and he picked Cobblestone.  So Cobblestone it is!  I had already purchased some Peace Fleece for the other sweater, but I got perfect gauge with it for Cobblestone.  The garter stitch column going up the middle of the sweater is actually the side.  I like the little detail, but it really won't be too noticeable once the sweater is done.  

I've never knit with Peace Fleece before, but my friend Brianne used it for a baby blanket and it's great.  It's not the softest yarn in the world to knit with, but it really softens up after a couple of washings - I think she might have even put it in the washing machine - is that right, Brianne?

I just added a Mizzou Knitters group on Ravelry. Come be a knitting geek with me, Tigers!

Hmmm... not too much to say about this, except that my monkey sock is getting very tall!  I just started the ribbing, which I plan to do until the yarn is all gone.  I found a great post comparing and rating all types of stretchy bind-offs, which I hear are essential for toe-up socks. 

I was really picky about how the calf increases looked, so I ended up ripping and reknitting 3-4 time to get them right.  I'll write up the details and post it with a good picture when I finish the first sock.

That's Monkey-sock love, you sickos!

Aren't they looking pretty? I'm knitting toe-up, so I'm planning to just keep going until I run out of yarn. Carol, the owner of Simply Fibers (my LYS), always says that you can knit three pairs of socks out of two skeins of Lorna's Laces.  ETA 08/03/07:  I'm an idiot.  I meant to say two pairs out of three skeins.  I think she's probably right, because I always have a ton left over. So, this little toe-up experiment will be a good chance to actually use the whole skein.

I took this picture last Sunday, I'm already about 4 or 5 repeats up the leg now. I'm trying to figure out when I should start the calf increases... The whole sock is slightly loose, so I don't want to start them too early. But my experience has been that LL socks shrink a little bit when I wash them, so I'm guessing these will fit perfectly once they're washed.

(For the toe-up Monkeys, I am knitting the chart as written, so the pattern is upside down. There's a thread on ravelry with people discussing how to rewrite the pattern for toe-ups, but I don't really think it's necessary.)