I want to thank you all for the comments on the previous post. It made me feel so much less frustrated as I confronted the rewound ball once again to know that I wasn’t alone with this.

Happily, I think the third time really is the charm. Behold!

It looks like my Bloomin Feet pal will get a sock after all!

I think part of what the problem was is that this yarn is 50% tencel which obviously isn’t going to be as stretchy as a full wool yarn. Add to that a pattern that has no ribbing (other than the cuff) and that I tend to knit lace a bit tight (as Cynthia suggested), and I think I can see why I ran into trouble.

In this most recent version, I’ve made a couple of modifications. First, I bumped the needle size up to 3mm (US2.5s). Then, because my cuff was particularly tight, I cast-on onto a US5 (4mm) and then switched down to the other needles for the subsequent rows. Also, I followed Jennie‘s advice when dealing with a 1×1 rib and knit into the back loop to create a more dramatic look.

I’m two more repeats away from the heel and will soon have to make another decision. I’ve never done a short-row heel and have heard mixed-things about how well they fit. Since I’m making this for someone whose foot is not here, I may alter the pattern to a heel flap instead. Anyone have any thoughts about that?

I may also follow Paula‘s suggestion to go down a needle size for the heel (or maybe the whole sole) to make the fabric a bit denser. I think I’ll stick in a lifeline at the start of the heel in order to try it out without fear of losing any of the leg.

I’m really excited with how it’s turning out now that I’m on the right track.

Thanks again for all the useful suggestions. I’m always blown a way by what a generous, wise community knit bloggers are.

(And for those of my readers who aren’t knitters, I promise that tomorrow’s post will not focus on this pair of socks.)

This would be attempt number two at my Bloomin Feet socks, a swap being sponsored by Amanda. Unfortunately, the sock doesn’t stretch any further than this, so we’re ripping again.

Attempt number one was done on US1s (2.25mm). It was too small and I had cast on the wrong number of stitches, anyway, so it didn’t hurt too much to pull it out.

For this time, I went out and bought US2s (2.75mm). I’m inclined to give it one more shot on either US2.5s (3mm) or US3s (3.25mm). (Anyone have any thoughts on which to switch to? I’m having a tough time measuring gauge in the lace pattern — in some spots I’m under and in some spots I’m over.) If that doesn’t work, maybe I should try a different pattern — one that calls for more than 60 stitches to be cast on.

The good news? I like the yarn (Woolarina), the pattern (Minty’s Zokni Socks), and the German cast-on that Amanda pointed me to and that I’ve become a pro at over the last few weeks.

The bad news? I have less than 20 days to make a pair of socks work for my secret pal.

Ack!

When I first learned how to knit socks, a woman in my knitting group copied a basic pattern from a knit-socks-on-two-circular-needles book for me to use. I took the pattern and headed out of town to a Cambridge yarn store where I bought two circular needles and some pretty yarn. Then I tried to cast on.

I cast on the correct number of stitches on one needle and then hit the “join in the round” part. This ought not to have flummoxed me in the way that it did. I’d knit a hat; I understood the concept.

But because the pattern was pirated, it didn’t include basic sock construction information. Nor did it include the crucial information that I was supposed to knit only one sock using two circular needles. I’d been under the impression that I was going to knit both socks simultaneously — one on each needle.

But I weathered through that and now consider myself safely an intermediate sock knitter — capable of mastering all but the most complex sock pattern.

And, really, this is an unfair lead-in to a discussion about this week’s sock knitting. Because there is nothing wrong with the patterns that I’m using. Or, rather, I assume not, because I’ve yet to advance past the cuff on either one.

This has been the most frustrating week I’ve experienced yet in knitting socks.

The first sock progressed through the cuff’s ribbing fine. I had some concerns that it might be knitting up too tight, but I figured once I got down to the leg pattern, I’d measure it and use it to determine gauge on the fly. When I got to the leg, I calmly began following the lace pattern until I got to the end of the first needle — and there were two extra stitches there. Uh-oh, I thought, I must have screwed the pattern up. So I tinked back the stitches on my 2.25mm twig needles. I began the pattern anew. Purl. Knit. Slip. Yarn over. Decrease. Increase. End of pattern. End of needle? Why, no. There were still those two pesky stitches there. Amazingly, I tried again. Then I paused and counted my stitches. 15. 15. 15. 17.

“One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn’t belong…”

Yup. I’d cast on two extra stitches.

In the end, this early realization was fine because the sock was, in fact, too small. It barely fit my wrist, let alone getting over my heel to fit my leg. But I was back at the drawing board.

I will try again with US2s, but I don’t have US2s (2.75mm). I have US2.5s, which are the equivalent of 3mm needles. To the yarn shop I must go.

In the meantime, I thought I’d cast on for another pair of socks I’d been meaning to start. In one of my knitting books it suggests using a tubular cast-on for socks because that gives you an extra-stretchy cuff. Since the socks I’d made with a knitted cast-on have rather tight cuffs (Rudi broke through one not too long ago), I thought it might be worth a try.

Maybe I ought to have used thinner waste yarn for the original cast-on.

But by the time I’d reached the third row of ribbing, it was obvious that this was going to be a gigantic cuff. I frogged this sock, too, but not before noting it was the perfect size for a biceps bracelet.

(By the way, did you know that “bicep” is actually a bastardization of “biceps,” which is the correct singular form of the noun. Me neither. Also, in addition to the arm biceps, there is a leg biceps, located at the back of the thigh. The sock cuff would never have fit around my thigh. I’m not sure whether I should be glad about that or not.)

So that would be sock yarn 2-soe 0.

I have lost the battle, for the moment, but not the war. Sock yarn, be on guard!

PS: For the knitters out there, what cast-on do you use for top-down socks?

Having finished the hat this weekend, I have two projects on the needles: the sweater (I’m nearly done with the back) and a pair of baby socks I cast on for today at lunch. I love baby socks because they just move along so quickly. Plus, my cousin is pregnant and I’d like to send her a little something in lieu of actually going to her baby shower in Connecticut. Actually, I so despise baby showers that I’m delighted I have a ready-made excuse not to attend.

(I’m just not a cute kind of person and have little interest in oohing over your diaper genie or in playing a game that involves guessing how huge your midriff has become. Why is this game fun? No one invites guests over to their Christmas party and asks them to guess how many pounds the host has gained in holiday weight….)

A project I need to start soon is the socks for my Bloomin’ Feet pal. The premise, sponsored by intrepid Yarn Aboard host Amanda, behind this particular swap is that no one knits for the knitter. So each of us in the swap has a secret pal for whom we are knitting a pair tailored to the person’s foot size and fiber and color preferences. My pal is very easy-going, so I’m remarkably lucky in that regard. I am, however, a little nervous because I’ve never knit socks for feet that weren’t within reach.

I hunted around the web for weeks before finally ordering two Woolarina yarns (because I can’t get enough of the Woolarina) to choose between. I have, I believe, settled on the one on the right. It seems bright and springy and is a half merino-half tencel blend that I’m eager to experience. The one in the middle was my other option; it’s lovely but turned out to be darker in person than it appeared on the website. I have some ideas about what I’d like to knit with that, but there’s no rush on it. (The one on the left is not sock yarn and was an impulse purchase. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, but it was purple and pink and on sale and it hopped in my shopping cart and asked to go through the checkout with me. Who am I to argue with a charming skein of soft yarn?)

Now that I have my Bloomin’ Feet yarn, I’m hunting the elusive perfect pattern. I have my eye on a couple and just want to stare at the yarn and the patterns simultaneously to see if one rises above the rest.

The most recent yarn to wander into my life is this birthday gift from Gramma:

One thousand yards of a mauvey variegated sport-weight alpaca yarn, from the farm of one of the owners of my mom’s local yarn shop and weaving studio.

Now I just have to figure out the perfect project for this squishy yarn. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Many of my readers who stop by the blog who don’t know me personally come for the knitting. Judging from the paucity of knitting-related posts thus far in 2007, readers might be justified in thinking that my needles are stuck in a bag somewhere.

Not so, my friends, not so.

I’ve merely been negligent in recording the knitting that’s going on…

So let’s rectify that, shall we?

First, a couple of knits from the end of ’06:

My River Rapids socks that I finished way back in November instead of working on my NaNoWriMo manuscript. In fact, I wove in the ends as Karen was loading her story into the system for verification. These would be the most recent pair of socks I knit.

This is the scarf I gave Mum for Christmas. It’s knit from baby alpaca yarn in a deep green color (the detailed shot is closer to the actual color) and is my first project that I designed myself. This project refused to cooperate with my vision in the original yarn (a sport-weight alpaca in baby blue), but was remarkably compliant after I picked up this yarn at Springwater Fiber Workshop in Alexandria. If anyone is interested in the pattern, I’m happy to write it up.

The cross-over project for 2006-2007 was originally envisioned as a Christmas present for Rudi, but instead lasted all the way to Valentine’s Day. They’re Knucks (without the writing, as of yet) knit from Rowan Felted Tweed. Rudi picked out the color when we went to Webs earlier this fall, although at the time he didn’t know he was picking the color for this project. The pattern was one that I’d seen and thought might be a good present for Rudi. He then found it separately and asked me to make him a pair — and, in fact, bought some Solitude wool one weekend from our farmers’ market for me to use for them. Oops. I guess that will either be a second pair for him or a different project of his choosing. Luckily, he’s both supportive and excited about hand-knitted clothing.

And this is my most recent project: the Santa Cruz hat from the February issue of MagKnits, which I knit up this weekend. I made a few alterations — using a worsted weight yarn with the sport-weight pattern and increasing the pattern repeat to 2 1/2. (In retrospect, I ought to have done 3, as you can see from mousing over the shot on the right that the hat is a bit short to fit my gigantic head.) The yarn is Karabella Marble, a wool-alpaca blend, in a lovely sea-colored combination of blue, green, and white.

And, yes, that is Papa Smurf you see there on the left. He oversaw the project and is quite pleased with how Smurfily the hat turned out. (Want your own set of Smurfy stitch markers? Visit Creative Muffin at etsy to buy some.)

Unfortunately, not everyone was so pleased with how the hat turned out. Della thought that Oscar the Grouch would have been a better mascot for the project.

Hey, not everyone can be happy, right?

ETA: Rudi asked Posey to try the hat on last night and she happily obliged. Like me, she looks good in hats. Della would prefer you not bother to check out how laid back Posey looks in her shot.

I finished two scarves for the Food and Friends drive last week.

To celebrate, I started a sweater. I’m about a third of the way done with the back panel.

I bought the yarn way back at the Maryland Sheep and Wool. It’s Peace Fleece sportweight in Georgia Rose, which I’m knitting up into the drop-sleeve Everyday Cardigan.

Suzanne is knitting the same sweater, but in a foresty shade of green. If we don’t finish them in time to wear them this winter (D.C. currently is having its coldest temperatures in a decade), we hope to have them done in April or May, when pink and green are two of the Project Spectrum 2.0‘s colors.

Remember you can click on the photos to see larger versions of the shots at Flickr.