Oh, look, it’s “Take Really Out of Focus Pictures” Day

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Suzanne

Now, in theory I could try again to take IN focus pictures, but that would require changing socks again, and taking the memory card back out of the card reader and putting it into the camera and finding a spot with better light and…I just don’t have it in me.

These adorable socks are called Absinthe, the pattern is from Knitty.com. I even used the yarn that the pattern calls for, which is much prettier in person, vs. this lovely out of focus picture. I knit the plain toe section a little bit longer, and only did 4 repeats of the leg pattern (instead of 5) because I was running out of yarn, (thanks to making them longer in the foot…). My cabling still needs work, but I’m pretty happy with them.

I finished the second one on Sunday (the first has been done for awhile). Naturally, that meant I could start a new pair of socks (though I did finish knitting a Christmas present before I let myself start the new sock:

These are called Blueberry Bubbles. They are going to be stinking adorable. The cable just wiggles it’s way up the side of the sock, the right sock will be the mirror image. The cable pattern is super easy — no cable needle. You just pass a slipped stitch over two knit stitches, and then a yarn over in the next row. I’m using some hand-dyed yarn I bought online about a year ago. I had started different socks, but changed my mind. When I found this pattern, I knew this pair of socks is what this yarn really wanted to be.

Oh, and I might have ordered some yarn to make this sweater: Elphaba Pullover. In a dark green, though. Cause is’t Elphaba, don’t you know? **

But now, I must return to the customer quilting on the frame. IT is a beautiful quilt, but the stitch in the ditch is…tedious. More tedious than stitch in the ditch is normally, because it’s not long straight lines: it’s 1 inch or less lines. Stop and start and stop and start…and…you get the picture.

And I’m doing it uncaffeinated. I have gone cold turkey: I have not had a drop of Pepsi in 3 weeks.

I only mention this because I could REALLY use a Pepsi right now. Like, you might get me to agree to just about anything if you offered me a Pepsi. Well, maybe not ANYTHING, but…I can just about taste it, and feel the sugar rush and the caffeine rush and…yeah.

Like I said, I’m off the stuff, and I know that I will be a better, healthier person for doing so, but damn it. I WANT A PEPSI.

**In case you don’t know: in the book and musical “Wicked” Elphaba is the name given to the Wicked Witch of the West. She is green. Plus, there’s the whole Emerald City thing.

Socks!

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Suzanne

Hey! I just finished my socks!

The pattern is Pink Ribbon Socks by Laura Spradlin. If I’d had pink yarn, I would have made them pink, but I only had purple.

The main casualty of this particular project was a set of circular needles:

I’m not entirely sure what happened. I was working on these in one of our hotel rooms, I got up to do…something…and when I came back it was slightly bent. I kept on knitting, but was dismayed a few days later when I went to push stitches up onto the needle and it started to bend even further! Apparently I don’t know my own strength.

Or…since a 2nd set of needles is also starting to bend…I wonder if these are just cheap needles, and I need to find something different.

Now…to decide which knitting project takes it place. Finishing an existing project? Starting something new? Hmm…..tough choices.

Footwork

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Suzanne

I think feet are kind of unpleasant to look at, so don’t worry, I’m not going to show you my feet, but socks are another story…

These have actually been done for awhile, but for some unknown reason, I hadn’t gotten a yarn needle and finished off the bind-off edge of the 2nd sock.

The sock yarn is Heritage, the pattern is a plain vanilla toe-up sock from WendyKnits using garter rib for the top of the foot and the leg.

I need to get back to figuring out the sock machine so I can make socks faster for my great big feet.

But…if you are hand-knitting socks, I have to say that toe-up is a very beautiful thing.

Had to finish them today to complete my outfit for tomorrow: we’re going Red for the Redhawks — showing our School Spirit! Too bad I don’t like red.

New socks and a new bag

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Suzanne

This one is a bit of a cheat. I actually thought this several days ago, but that lesson was overtaken by something else. Yesterday was really kind of a blur of painting, sinus headache, and the bag that I’m going to show in a second, so I decided to assign this lesson to yesterday…

The socks are new, and are awesome. And were made by Mom. Who is also awesome.

The Princess and the Pea fabric came from my Mom, who we’ve already established is awesome. It’s been sitting, waiting to be used, and when I got my Once Upon A Mattress music on Thursday, I immediately went a little crazy (crazier…) and started wondering about making a new music bag. The fabric is not really sturdy-bag-making-type-fabric, so I knew I needed to use it as more of an embellishment. I was thinking about using something from the shop, but remembered this brown corduroy that I’ve had forever. Like, it’s older than the boys, forever.

I ended up making things up on my own, sort of, after perusing some tutorials on some blogs and examining a messenger bag that I already own.

There’s a big corduroy pocket on the back, and 2 denim pockets, one on the inside, and one under the flap. The one under the flap was divided for pencils and other small things. The denim came from an old pair of jeans that got hole-y. The denim pockets are doubled, that’s actually the side seam from the jeans at the top of the pocket.

I’m pretty proud of myself for figuring it out. Of course, now that I’ve made it, I have several ideas for improvements, and as soon as Mom saw it she made some remark about hoping she gets one.

Sheesh. Some people.

Oh, and I still have most of 3 yards of that Princess and the Pea fabric. What should I make next???

Story of my life plus socks

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Suzanne

My memory card is at the shop — AGAIN — so I had to resort to using Mark’s camera. I really dislike his camera, because I’ve never been able to take a decent picture with it, and these photos are no exception. This is what, the bazillionth time I’ve left the memory card in a different place than the camera? Sheesh.
(and on top of the crappy pictures problem, Firefox crashed on me every time I tried to insert pictures, so I’m using IE and I despise IE so it’s a wonder I’m even actually posting this…)

But! I wanted to show off: I redid the bind-off edge of my red sock:

I went poking around the site where I had gotten the initial instructions for starting a toe-up sock, and lo and behold, she had a FAQ page where she answers a question about binding off. Worked like a charm.

(Sock was knit toe-up following instructions at Wendyknits.net, the stitch pattern is a very simple garter rib, with a K2P2 ribbed cuff. Yarn is Heritage Handpaints by Cascade in a colorway called Cherry Berry. I’m currently out of it, but I have 2 other colors, plus the solids…

That handknit sock must be contrasted with:

This poor sock has some serious technical issues, not least of which is the dropped stitches in the mock rib cuff…but LOOK!!!!!!

I knit a sock on my CSM today!!!!

The heel is practically perfect. The toe itself, too, except for where I messed up the finishing of the toe. But LOOK!!!! It’s an actual SOCK!

I was pretty much faking it, as far as the size went, and it turns out that even though the toe is alittle misshapen, it fits Will’s foot pretty well.

I probably ought not to tempt fate by trying to work on any other knitting or sewing project, I’m probably safest curling up with a book and going to bed early…