:Kalliope Lane

Here is my pretty little Badcaul sock toe:

More cable detail:

For what it’s worth, I think the color is more accurate in this one:

I’m going a bit crazy reading about short row techniques.  I just ripped back to do the heel over again to see if I can completely avoid holes.  I’m either going to try Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’ yarn over technique as shown by Alison, Purlwise, and in Michelle’s Basic Socks; or I may try the wrap technique again, but use Ashley’s method of picking up the wraps; or I might try the strange knit and purl encroachment technique described at HipKnitism, avoiding wraps and yarn overs all together.  Or heck, maybe even the Japanese Short Row (lovely tutorial at NonaKnits).  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’m off to have short row adventures…

I’ve been out of town for a few days. We were visiting Bloomington because Tom was offered a position there and we were checking it out to see if we liked the town. And we did. I never thought I’d be so charmed by a small college town, but I really adored it. Bloomington proper is only around 60,000 people (not counting the 30,000 or so college students each year), so it’s definitely small. But it has a yarn store!

So on to the knitting: I finished by Jaywalkers, and I have to say they’re not the biggest success for me. The feet and ankles are quite loose, but I wouldn’t have been able to wear the smaller size on my legs. And the socks are DRAMATICALLY different. But that’s partly my fault. On the first sock (right foot) I picked up four extra stitches (not five as I posted previously) along the gusset, and on the second sock (left foot) I only did three. But that doesn’t totally explain the differences — the left foot is noticably darker, with much less light purple striping in. Strange. But I still like them, and they’re warm. It’s just a shame they don’t fit me better, since I enjoyed knitting them so much!

I’m now working on a pair of Badcaul socks in dark but bright red/magenta variegated Koigu PPPM. It’s my first experience with Koigu, and I have to say I’m loving it for the most part. It’s thicker and much sproingier than the Lorna’s Laces (not that I didn’t like the LL), and the socks are very cushy. I was surprised, however, by the quality of the spinning. Some places are VERY loosely spun, and in several spots I had to felt the yarn a bit because it seemed like poorly done joins (I don’t know anything about spinning [yet] so I don’t know the correct terminology). Since the Koigu is so sought after and is relatively expensive, I didn’t expect this. I’ve only rolled one of the skeins so I’m not sure if both are that way.

But the color is gorgeous. The second picture is a little fuzzy, but the true color is somewhere between the two so I put both up. The colorway is either 859 or 829 (I’ll have to check later).

I’ll have a picture of the sock progress soon. I got just past the heel and I noticed holes when I tried them on. I might rip out the entire heel and try yarn-over short rows instead of wrapping. But I’m in LOVE with the sock and the pretty little cables! I’m so proud of them! And the Turkish cast-on is brilliant. Tom thinks I’m crazy because I got so excited over it. (But he agrees that my kitchener stitch toes look all wonky.)

Other new things: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Midnight Sapphire:

Queensland Kathmandu Aran, maybe for a hat. (It’s pretty much Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed, and this page actually says it’s the same fiber and manufacturer. My LYS had it for 6.75 instead of 9.25 for the Jo Sharp.)

And last, but not least, I got two balls of Jaeger Matchmaker Merino Aran. For wristwarmers?

So I didn’t get my Jaywalkers done in time for the knitalong — ah well. I came to it late. But I’m trying to hurry it up, because I bought myself lots of goodies that I want to knit with: Koigu for socks in a deep magenta variegated colorway (826?), Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Midnight Sapphire (discontinued colorway, very dark), Jaeger Matchmaker Merino (DK?) in a charcoal color for wristwarmers, and some Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran tweed for a hat maybe. I’ve also been playing with some Rowan Felted Tweed for a Shedir hat, but I’m not sure about it.

Pictures of the haul to come!

And I now have Addi Turbos in sizes 0-3, 40″. Bearfoot and Koigu, here I come! I’m tackling the turkish cast-on for two socks at once, toe-up, next. I bought Amelia’s Badcaul pattern, and think I might try that one first with the magenta Koigu. And I may sign up for the Red Hot Sizzling Socks KAL, since I have all the way until July 4th. I’m bound to finish by then!

I’ve been using an online tool for the past several months that is a fantastic handy thing: PBwiki.com

It’s a free online wiki that you have set as private or public. What’s a wiki? It’s kind of like creating your own web of links, your own little website, that you can use to organize all sorts of things and information. You don’t need to know HTML to edit or add to it, so it’s super easy.

I’ve used mine to make Christmas present idea lists, remind myself of important dates during the semester, dates Tom will be away on interview trips, paste quotes I liked, list book recommedations, list links I don’t want to get lost in my hundreds of browser favorites, etc. It’s been great for my knitting hobby because I’ve listed links to various online patterns that I eventually want to knit (along with links to pictures of the finished objects), as well as a list of patterns in particular pattern books so I can figure out which Rowan or Rebecca would be worth buying someday. Basically, you can use PBwiki for anything you might need it for. It’s invaluable to me while I’m at work: I have access to the internet, and write myself notes there all the time.

They have a tour, or you can just check it out directly:

(They say setting up a pb wiki is as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich, hence the cute logo.)

It’s unfortunate, this new obsession I have with knitting socks. I have a long list of patterns I want to knit, and a longer list of sock yarn I want to try. And I’m enamoured with the magic loop. So why does this suck? It’s because I inherited huge ankles and thick legs — and I have them even when I’m at my thinnest. All those cute socks don’t look quite so dainty on me.

It all leads to this lovely problem: tight-on-the-legs-but-loose-on-the-foot socks. And because I love snug huggy socks, not loose ones, this just won’t do. It’s especially noticable on the jaywalker, I think, because the pattern makes for very little give in the knitted fabric. Maybe I’m a candidate for patterns that have ribbing or mock ribbing on the leg and instep.

Does anyone know if fancy ribbing has the same give as regular old ribbing? I’m talking about some of the stitch patterns mentioned in Sensational Knitted Socks. Maybe I’ll have to do some experimental swatching.

Anyway, here’s the first Jaywalker. Notice the pooling that started in the foot after the decreases.

I’ve stalled on sock number two, but if I want to be a good KAL-er, I’d better get my butt in gear!

In the meantime, I’ve been knitting Shedir from the special breast cancer awareness issue of Knitty (pages 3-4). It’s my second cabling project and I’ve discovered that I love cables! They’re fun to do and make the knitting more interesting. They’re not as scary as I thought, especially since I’m not using a cable needle (learned from reading Confessions of a Knitting Heretic by Annie Modesitt, and by watching Grumperina’s tutorial).

Cabled patterns, here I come!