Freshening up a bit

I think a little freshening up is order. The plain background was a bit boring. Hope you like it!

The photo is of one of my favorite hand-dyed yarn skeins sold long ago on Etsy. It's fun and inspiring to go through old photos.

As promised in my last blog...upcoming adventures! I've taken the plunge and signed up to go to Stitches South 2014 with Liana, LeAnn and Lori in April. It's in 1 month, 1 week and 1 day. Can't wait!

Also, I finished up a pair of ultra warm socks and just in time! The weather radio is squawking a winter storm warning. Ice accumulations from 1/2 to 1 inch. Snow. Death and destruction. Pandemonium. Chaos. Gnashing of teeth. Hurling oneself over a cliff. You know the drill...

But back to the socks: knit with "Jarbo Garn Raggi Multi" yarn, top down, on size 5 needles. They knit up super fast and are by far the warmest wool socks I own. My feet are size 9-9 1/2 and each sock took nearly a skein, 52 stitches around and knit in a k3/p1 pattern. It was my intention to mismatch the striping of the yarn, and if you know me, having something mismatched is a huge departure from my nearly OCD/anal retentive tendencies about things being the way things need to be. The heel, gusset and toe are basic, nothing fancy. I love them!

I must confess, I told myself that I bought the yarn because I was going to knit them for Zack for Christmas, but after a couple inches I knew the socks would be mine. Actually, I think I knew the socks would be mine when I bought the yarn. Who am I fooling? And if I don't 'fess up, Liana will surely call me out on it (again)! 

When all else fails...

...knit a tiny sock.

I had to knit something but I didn't want to think, swatch, or fuss with a pattern. So I knit a tiny sock to add to my collection of Tiny Christmas Stockings.

 

 

There really isn't a pattern, I just knit them. I cast on 24, divide onto 4 needles. Sometimes I do 1x1 rib, sometimes not. I knit for a while then use 12 stitches for the heel flap. I knit 6 rows for the flap then turn the heel, which is probably the most complicated part. I think I knit (or purl depending on where I am with the heel flap) seven stitches, then K2tog or P2tog (again, depending) then turn, go back until there are 5 sts then P2tog (or K2tog) and do this until the stitches are used up. I typically have 4 stitches remaining. I pick up 4 or 5 along the gusset (if it's 5, I decrease 1 on each side so I'm back to 24 stitches), then I knit for a bit until it's time for the toe. Simple toe decrease until there are 8 stitches left, run the yarn through the stitches and pull the end of the yarn inside and tie it off. As far as needle size, it just depends on the weight of the yarn you're using. This was Koigu PPPM sock weight with a size 3 needle (I think). The cuff, heel and toe are in solid purple. The leg and instep are in verigated.

 

If you knit socks, this should make sense. If you don't knit socks, you should!

 

About a sock

Q: What did Chris say when she saw this hole in her sock?

A: Darn it!

In all honesty, that's the PG version of what I really said, but my original expletive doesn't work with this clever sock-repairing pun.

It was Thanksgiving 2012 and I was spending the holiday with my family at a delightful cabin on the Cumberland River. My feet were cold. I put on my favorite hand knit wool socks and my mom pointed out the "nice hole" in the heel. What? Nice what?

My vision blurred. The world started to tilt. Bile rose in my throat. I wanted to vomit.

I commenced with grieving.

1. Anger - @#$(*&!
I am pissed! I paid good money for that sock yarn. I'm calling the mill to complain about the quality of their overpriced yarn. I spent hours knitting (and reknitting) those socks. Do you know what a pain in the ass that pattern was? The heel was a particular bitch because there was a typo in the pattern. I swear, I'm never using that yarn brand again, and so help me if I EVER find another typo in a pattern ever again I'm going to come un-freakin'-glued. The rage...oh the rage.

2. Guilt
What have I done? The luxurious softness of that yarn should have clued me in to using reinforcing yarn in the heels and toes. Why? Why didn't I listen to that voice in my head? Did I not treat these socks with the utmost care? Maybe I washed them too often, or maybe not enough. It was probably because of that one time I accidentally put them in the dryer. How could I have been so careless? If I weighed 50 pounds less, there wouldn't have been as much pressure on the bottom of my feet and the abrasion wouldn't have been so damaging. I must go on a diet. Chocolate will help.  

3. Denial
No. No. NO! This makes no sense. I can't cope because my feet are cold. How can this even be happening? My hand knits DO NOT wear out. I'm going to let this sucker languish in the bottom of my project bag where I can't see it. Out of sight out of mind, I say. Besides, I have no idea where I've put the yarn that was leftover from when I knit these socks. I refuse to deal with this.

4. Bargaining
If I start another project and knit it really well, will I wake up from this hellish dream? If I organize all my knitting needles and start organizing my stash (but not finish organizing my stash) will the hole be smaller or even gone the next time I look at the sock? Could it have been (queue the Temptations) just my imagination running away with me?

5. Depression
What's the freakin' point? Why even go on?

6. Acceptance and hope
"Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive."....
"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster."

I can fix this.

Nananana...

Nanananana....

Rather than using a weaving technique, I opted for resurfacing the heel with duplicate stitch. It worked well, and I can't feel anything different on my heel.

7. Extreme self-satisfaction
Better...stronger...but not really much faster.

At first, the off kilter stripe bothered me. It went against every fiber of my perfectionist personality. Then the recovering perfectionist in me made a good point--it's on the bottom of my foot, is my shoe going to file a complaint with the knitting police? I'm good with it. I reinforced the other sock too. It was much easier since I didn't have to work with a hole, just an "almost hole".

Knitters in grief will often report more or different stages. Just remember your grief is as unique as your hand knits, and there is always hope!

About Christmas Stockings

Each year I vow to never take on another commission for hand-knit Christmas stockings, but I'm a sucker. I can't resist.

It starts in mid-November. Actually, the knitting has already been started. November is simply when reality strikes and I realize the knitting-left-to-be-done and time-left-to-do-it ratio is not in my favor.

Reasons to never do this again:

• Slave labor
• Out of print patterns
• Discontinued yarn
• Intarsia sucks
• Sequins
• Seed beads

This year I knit eight and used a stocking from the 1940s as a template. I had to match the yarn, replicate the pattern and pray for gauge. Swatching was grueling, but I finally found the right needle size. I knit like hell. I didn't do house work. I knit during my lunch hour at work. I knit every spare moment I had. I even considered taking the bus to and from work so I could knit during rush hour. By the time I sewed on the last sequin and snipped the last tail of yarn off the last sock, my house was a disaster and I had lost 6 weeks of my life. My carpet was covered in red, white and green yarn...and sequins. I spilled an entire pack of red sequins during my finishing frenzy. It would have really ticked me off but I'm a sparkle whore. As messy as it was, it was sparkly. I knew I was going to need extra vacuum cleaner bags.

So, why do I do this? Because of this:

The stockings are incredible! I love them and everything about them -- the look,the designs, the yarn - its heft and color, the details, the sequins, the bells -- they just announce Christmas in their sight and sound!

 

They took me back to my own childhood as I opened your bag.

 

They have such a timeless and old-fashioned feel about them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

That's just part of the e-mail I got after delivering the finished socks. I know exactly how she felt when she opened that bag. Every year, I hang the Christmas stockings that my mom knit for me and my son. (Mine is considerably older than Zack's and it has been repaired a couple times.) They are the most valuable Christmas heirlooms that I own. There is no describing how good it made me feel to read her e-mail and know that I helped bring those memories back to her. That's not something you get to do every day.

Is it any wonder I'm a sucker? 

The pattern (such as it is) and charts are at the end of this post.

Basic pattern…if you can knit a sock, these directions will make sense. No copyright on this pattern as I duplicated an old stocking knit in the 1940-50s that was given to me as a template. Plymouth Encore works well, could also be knit in Galway or similar weight. I used a size 6 needle to get a tighter fabric than you would want for a garment.

• cast on 62 (use a stretchy cast on!) on straight needles with intarsia the leg of the sock needs to be knit flat
• 2x2 rib for an inch
• stockinette stitch for body
• decrease two times on both edges, first one about half way down, second one about 2 inches after that
• transfer to DPNs and join, knit in round for about 4 rounds
• knit heel flap on 28 stitches. S1 K1 for knit row, and S1 P to end on purl row. do this for 24 rows, or so you have 12 slip stitch rows
• turn heel starting with a purl row as follows:
• purl 15 sts, p2tog, p1, turn
• s1, k3, k2tog, k1, turn
• s1, purl to gap (between the two stitches purled together and the slip stitch) purl these two together, p1, turn
• continue as such until all stitches are used up, should end after a knit row
• pick up 13 stitches along heel flap, knit across instep, pick up 13 more stitches along other side of heel fap, continue knitting in the round AT THE SAME TIME, decrease on either side of gusset every other row until 28 stitches remain
• knit in round for desired length
• decrease for toe

The sock is a bit narrow for my taste, but I was matching existing socks. I would probably cast on a dozen more stitches or so, and maybe make the toe just a bit shorter.