Lilysunshine

2010 will be the year of the sock. I have just finished my first pair of toe-up socks. They use a short rows heel and toes. They are plain stockinette stitch except the cuff which uses a 2×2 rib pattern. Nothing special about them, but they are saved by the self patterning yarn: Galaxy from Regia. It creates cute galaxies-like pattern, very nice. In the end, I like them very much and they will be fantastic to wear in my favourite biker boots!
My first toe-up socks

But unfortunately, they won’t count in my Socks 2010 challenge since I started them in 2009… Boohoo…

So, I’ve casted on a new pair of socks! And this time, to be sure that I would not get bored and consider not starting the second sock, I am making them 2 at a time on the same needle. It is very neat. The socks are called Seaweed socks (Ravelry link). The toe uses a Turkish cast-on which is very very nice: it is my favourite cast-on method so far. It is also very easy. Then all you have to do is increase to make your toe. To increase, I am not using the orthodox method which implies to lift the yarn between 2 stitches: I hate the way it always creates a hole under the newly created stitch. Instead, I create the new stitch by knitting into the stitch below the next one. Does that make any sense? It is the KRL from Knitting Help. Very easy and no hole. I’ve been using that for more than 20 years not knowing it wasn’t the ‘right’ way to do an increase (by ‘right’, I mean the way most knitters do it).
Seaweed Socks toes using Magic Loop, 2 at-a-time and Turkish cast-on techniques.

I should talk about the yarn I am using for these new socks: Dream in Color Smooshy in Good Luck Jade colourway. It is absolutely delightful. I am in love with this yarn. Oh so soft and squishy. A real pleasure to work with… Now I wonder if it would be possible to knit a cardigan or a pullover with it. Something to ponder!

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My son only has one grat grandma still alive (my husband’s paternal grandmother). She is 83. When she learned she was going to be a great grandma, she decided she was going to learn knitting so she could make something for her great grandson.
She made him a couple of tops. They are full of beginner’s mistakes: dropped stitches, twisted stitches, you name it, it’s there.
They are the most beautiful things I have ever owned. Knitting is not just about the item: sometimes, the story behind is much more important.

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My goal for this year is to knit 10 socks – or 5 pairs -, not counting the ones I’ve got on the needles.
To turn this challenge into a success, I will try to stay away from knee-high socks as much as possible, as well as staying clear of the plain stockinette ones.
I will also learn to knit 2 socks at te same time on ONE circular needle.
But I should finish my one knee-high plain stockinette sock first, right?…

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The upstairs neighbour is listening to The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” on repeat, so that kinda inspired the title of this blog post… Same neighbour who almost got us killed a couple of months ago. Not sure I blogged about it then. Long story short: while he was away, one of his gas pipes broke and the leak was so bad we were just moments away from a big “boom” when I got the gas people to come and check… Oh wait, now he is singing!…

Let’s not talk about him too much, he doesn’t deserve me wasting my precious blogging time on him!…

Why did “Miss You” stick? Probably because I had knitting in mind… Over the last 5 weeks, my knitting time has been more than reduced, thanks to the little human who is currently using my legs as a bed (we are on the bed and he is lying between me and the laptop, with his back rested against my legs). But for the last few days, maybe a week?, I have been able to knit a bit more. He is starting to need me less when he sleeps, so I am starting to recover the use of my hands for things non baby related. Like knitting.

I have been able to finish the gift to myself for his birth: the Bitterroot. It was my very first attempt at proper lace knitting. I loved it, despite not having enough time to really focus on it. I made some mistakes, I frogged a bit, but it was mostly ok – if you exclude the 50 or more rows I had to frog when I realised I was to be short of yarn… Damn. But it looks pretty, and more complicated than it actually was. It still needs to be washed and blocked, though. I don’t know how I’m going to do that. Or where…
My first attempt at lace knitting: Bitterroot, unblocked

Before that project, I had started working on my first pair of proper socks (proper sock yarn and proper needles size), but I took a break from them (kinda long, the break), partly because stockinette in the round can be very boring and tedious. Also because I had let my mum work on them while she was here so that she could try knitting in the round / knitting socks and somehow, she managed to end up with the needles not in the same direction as the working yarn… Odd. Anyway, I’m back working on this pair of socks (even if I might take a break when I finish the first one to swatch some lace)
My first proper socks, toe-up

I still have to finish the jumper I started working on for my husband, but this thing is so damn huge, I can’t work on it when the baby is sleeping on me, which limits a lot when I can work on it! He might not be able to wear it this winter, which annoys me… I will finish it, though… One day.

Yesterday, I ordered 2 classic books from Elizabeth Zimmerman, the reference when it comes to knitting, plus a book from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot. They were very cheap on Amazon and should be interesting to read / use.

Ah! The neighbour has switched to The Police. It’s time to go…

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I am banning fruit juices, dairies and chocolate. Not for me. For the wee ‘un who’s got colic. To see if he gets better.
Not sure how I’m going to keep sane without mango juice, camembert and chocolate treats…
God help me!…

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