NOT Awesome yarn

So I'm happily knitting away on the AWESOME socks when my yarn breaks.

Weird. So I tie it together and keep knitting.

Wham!

Another break! grrrrrrrr.

THREE breaks within TWO inches of knitting. That is not awesome.

Steffi Linden - A Sock Retrospective

One of the choices for the October Sock for the Sock Knitters Anomyous Sockdown is a sock by Steffi Linden. When I googled Steffi Linden, I didn't turn up much. With a little google/ravely magic and my mad search skills, I found her ravelry page. The first problem is most of Steffi's stuff is under her proper name - Stephanie van der Linden. And boy, does she have some nice stuff. I'm sticking to socks for this post.

Binsenkorbchen Socks

These are quite lovley. I love color work and I love geometric shapes. I don't think I'll do these tho since i'm doing Ziggy right now. (photo by punkin541)

Esther Sock

Whew this is very airy and dreamy. I love the flower look. (photo by schrodinger212)

Florenz

Another colorwork wonder! I love the texture and there's something about the stripped sole that I really like. I'm not super keen on the rolled cuff right now tho. (photo by steffilinden)

Glamour Socks

There's a cute touch of bead work at the cuff on this lovely sock. Very pretty, but its not doing it for me right now. (photo by steffilinden)

Grun ist die Hoffnung

WOW! Just wow! I might have to do this one. Look at that construction! You knit the top of the foot first? What? How is that possible!! (photo by steffilinden)

Honeybee Socks

Awwwwww. This are just simply adorable. Very romantic and quaint. (photo by knitchickmelly)

Komet

This is nice I guess, but I'm not in love with it. I like my socks to lay smooth. I'd be afraid it would be too puffy on my foot. (photo by steffilinden)

Livia Socks
Click the Twist link for the pic!
Simple, delicate, intricate twisted stitch loops. Simplicity at its best! This is a sock feature in the premier issue of Twist Collective (and the only patter Steffi has you have to pay for).

Lizzy

This sock makes me think of gothic catherdirals with those crazy arches. I love the detail on the instep. I'm thinking of doing Lizzy for the Sockdown. (photo by steffilinden)

Montgolfiere

How cute! I love the optical illusion-y effect of this sock! (photo by steffilinden)

Scala

More stripy colorwork!?!? This lady loves her stripes!! (photo by knitsynthesis)

Tanz in den Mai

OK, I'm sorry, I can appreciate the prettiness but I just don't like the nubby pokey out parts. (photo by steffilinden)

My Berlins

I finished yesterday, but didn't get to take a picture till today. Wore them today to show off at my Ravelry group but not many people there due to Mother's Day - so now I have a perfect excuse to wear them again!
There were problems initially with the English translation of the pattern but knitted smoothly once that was corrected. Not a difficult lace pattern but not easy to memorize so lost time reading the pattern for each repeat.
They are pretty but loose and slouchy - would consider using a smaller needle next time - but as I used a #0 for this pair that might be a problem.
Yarn is from Cherry Tree Hill yarn in apricot but it's a little more orange than I expected - should remember not to rely on a computer monitor to pick colors. Nice yarn to knit.

(If we were keeping track - Amy beat me this time but since I finished first on the first sock - we are technically tied)

Let the Games Begin!

I accepted Amy's challenge to participate in the Socks Pentathalon.
I know there were anxious knitters all over the world in the starting blocks ready to sprint to the finish, but I slept through the opening ceremonies at midnight. I printed out the pattern when I woke up at 3:30AM. Ran out in the sleet to get needles I left in the car but couldn't find them - DRAT! NO problem - just put an unfinshed sock on dpns and "borrowed" that circ. (#0)
Of course, I had to start but was thrown by the suggested start. Watched a video of Magic Cast On - tried it twice but I was obviously doing something wrong as I got a purl ridge across the toe. So not only did I "borrow" it's needle, I also used the toe instructions from the temporarily abandoned sock ( toe up, provisional cast on, short row toe - Early Spring Sock Pattern in Panda Cotton by Janice Kang - something I won in a swap on Ravelry)
Looks good - so of course I'm knitting instead of sleeping. Heard from Amy at 7:30 so I know her needles are smoking. I don't hope to beat her - I will consider myself a winner if I get this pair done before the next pattern comes out.
It's 8:20 AM now - I'm a slow typist.
I finshed row 9 of the patten - I'm going to try to get to sleep.

Sock Knitters Pentathlon - Queen Mermaid

Enchanted Knoll Farm Enchanted Knoll Queen Mermaid
Originally uploaded by amynowacoski

This is Queen Mermaid - a hand dyed superwash yarn from Enchanted Knoll Farm. Its quite lovely, and this picture doesn't really do it justice. Its much more subtle and very evocative of the sea. Being a Pisces, we do adore images of the sea. Ironically however, I don't like swimming in the sea because I am not at the top of the food chain there.

This is the yarn I'm going to use for the up coming Sock Knitters Pentathlon 2008. The first pattern will be released tonight.

I'm very excited. OK, I'm a geek.

Sock Knitters Pentathlon

The Sock Knitters Pentathlon starts tonight. What is the Sock Knitters Pentathlon you might ask?

This is group will test your sock knitting skills. During the course of the year, competitors will knit 5 pairs of socks in 5 different styles.

Yes, it is a sock knitting competition.

Knitters will be placed by how quickly they finish the assigned patterns. First to finish is 1, second is 2 etc. Lowest score for the 5 patterns wins.

And there are prizes, oh yes, prizes.

At the end of the the Pentathlon prizes will be awarded to the knitters who place first (gold), second (silver), and third (bronze).

Now, I have a terrible and faulty reputuation for being rather competitive *shifty eyes*. This is totally false. Do not believe anything you might hear to the contrary.

The faux competition is part of the fun! *shifty eyes*

The Lazy Perfectionist

Yes, I am a lazy perfectionist. Here's what I mean...

I'm knitting a sock out of the Jitterbug yarn using the pattern that came with the skein (written on the tag that identifies the color and stuff. I only recently discovered this was called a "Ballband", go figure since its not a ball, stay on track Amy!)

So I knitted the first sock with really no problem. The Mamajama and I disagreed on the meaning of one set of instructions but Ravelry came to the rescue (more on Ravelry later). Anywho, I knitting up the second sock and I notice a mistake on the instep part.

For you non-knitters, and brief introduction to sock knitting. Now to make a sock all you really need to do is knit a tube, and sew it up at the end and voila! You have a tube sock! That is not really the preferred method. A tub sock will get bunchy on the top of your foot and stretched thin on your heel. Most sock patters have you knit a tube in the round (either on several needles or with the new spiffy Magic Loop technique, more on that later too!). The you usually divide the stitches in half and knit half for a few inches to make a flap, conveniently called "The Heel Flap". Then you pick up some extra stitches along the edges of the flap you just made and go back to knitting in the round. What you've done is add extra fabric to accommodate the heel, and widened the sock so that it will fit the wide part of your foot across the instep. After you pick up these stitches and start knitting, you decrease by knitting together (k2tog or ssk) so that you have a smaller tube on the ball of your foot. Then you decrease for the toe. That's the basics really.

So to decrease for the instep you usually decrease one stitch on each side of the foot one round, and then you knit plain (with no decreases) on the next round. I missed a decrease round on one side of the sock. So I'll have two plain knitted rounds and two decreased rounds in a row. This kills me because it is not perfect. But I was too lazy to go back and unkint it and knit it again. Every time I wear the sock, I'll know its not perfect. Will anyone else ever notice? Nope. But I'll know. Oh yes, I'll know.

Amy