Struggling

My knitting mojo has gone down the toilet. I've been working for 2 weeks now trying to start my Sockapalooza4 socks. My pal likes bright colors, so I've got some great bright yarn. I started working them up into Monkey socks and they looked just wonderful:


I have the luck of having pal with the exact same foot measurements as myself, so when I got a couple repeats in, I tried it on - NO DICE. A struggle to get them around my heel. Crap, they were looking so beautiful, too. No problem, I said to myself, I will decrease the pattern repeat by one stich in each "fork" as well as reduce a couple in the reverse stockinette triangle - that way I can make still make Monkies, but on 72 stitches instead of 64. I made a little "mini-monkey" chart for myself and was off. The pattern worked, but sadly, half the sock was yellow and red stripes and the other half was almost solid orange-red. Major pooling. I was too sad to take a picture, but it looked awful, trust me.

Since then, I have cast on three other patterns. Any combo with 72 stitches gives me 2-toned pooling hell. The current incarnation is Slipped Stitch Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks, over 66 stiches. They fit and they're not pooling, but I'm just not feeling the love.

My decision now is to continue casting about for other patterns, or maybe needle size up and try Monkies again? I have knit the first 3 inches of this sock every day for the past 2 weeks and my brain is toast. Ideas, commisery, or flashes of brilliance kindly accepted at this point.

Down the Rabbit Hole

My Ravelry invite finally came this weekend. I am impressed and obsessed. So much fun getting my projects in there and organized. I'm a little scared to actually document the stash, but it would be wonderful to have it catalogued and easily accessable.

Morning Glory first half is about 6 rows to completion. Haven't weighed it again yet.

Socks have been started for my Sockapaloooza4 pal - really bright and fun, I'll try to show you this week sometime.

Bonanza day for wonderful packages on Friday - received both my HelloYarn fiber club package (GORGEOUS!) as well as my package from Anne's Exotic Fiber Club - some luscious Rambouillet, a first for me.

I Think I'm Going to Make It!

The Morning Glory shawl continues:

This has been a measuring and math intensive project for me. You see, Anne's lovely pattern calls for about 900yds of DK weight on #9 needles. My handspun is roughly sport weight, and I have just under 700 yards, 112grams of yarn total. To compensate for the difference, I'm knitting this on #7 needles.

In order to make sure I have enough yarn to make the seconf half, I've been using my scale a lot. The hem edging, plus the transition panel of the mesh chart (of which I knit one less repeat than called for) used up roughly 16grams. The pattern calls for 4 full repeats of the main chart, each of which is has consistently used 7g, and then a last repeat that ends 2/3 of the way through. By my math, that means 16+(7x4)+5=49grams per side. That should mean I have enough to do the full set of repeats on each half, leaving me 13grams of yarn to make up for any spinning inconsistencies. Phew.

Socks for Mom

The socks for Mom are complete, and I must say, she is lucky that I love her so much, because otherwise I'd keep them. I loved knitting these - of course the yarn is wonderful, but the pattern was excellent too. I could not help but think of a couple fellow bloggers who are fond of the blues each time I picked these up.

Project Specs:
Pattern: River Rapids from Sock Bug
Yarn: Socks that Rock lightweight, color "Midsumers Night"
Needles: Addi Turbo #1, magic loop
Notes: Great yarn, great pattern. Should make some for myself!