Hedgerow socks, and making more markers

Today - despite having two largish projects on the needles, well four if I am being honest with myself, I've been tempted with a new sock so cast on making it five WIP's (full details at end). I have made good progress on the Fannigan cardigan sleeve, and a small repair leads to even more stitch markers.

So the new sock, well the latest KR newsletter Jane provided a
textured ribbed top down sock pattern, which was so so tempting I had to locate some suitable yarn and cast on. I was intending to dye some semi solid yarn. Small problem, my lys doesn't do sock yarns or any fingering or fine yarns well. I found Rowan soft at $18 NZ a ball. I needed 3 balls of that- so that wasn't going to happen any time soon, they also had baby yarn in various baby colours but strangely out of white for dying - but then I spotted this, Sunbeam St Ives sock yarn in what could be considered close to semi solid. It is a soft sage green with a delicate rust pink undertone. I have some of the similar but darker green in my stash, but this suited hedgerow better.


I cast on at knit night Wednesday (can't bring myself to say Stitch'n'Bitch, we are much more positive than that when we meet. I can't think of much worse that planning to meet just to moan, we meet to knit). Any-who - knit night, we are still settling on a good cafe location, the first a bar was to noisy to talk, our last cafe is off-limits to a slight embarrassing situation with one of the group and the manager, and the latest is dim - well they are all dim. Whats with the consistently low level of light in cafes at night? Don't they want us to see the super clean cutlery? I cast on twice at knit night but kept making errors in the set up row, and then ripped and cast on again at home much more successfully. Well on my way now, past the rib and pattern established, and yes I am enjoying it, very much.




Fannigan update, Fannigan is my take of the traditional Fanna Cardigan of the Fanna region of Scandinavia as written by PGR in Knitting the old way. I moved the stars from the shoulder to the the hip, and am knitting it totally the round but not steeking the sleeves. So either a raglan or saddle set sleeve. Sleeve two is around half way complete, and the body has been complete for ages. There are little 'pulls' where the dpns join, this can happen when I colour work on dpns but in this yarn it blocks out perfectly. I know this from my round swatch, so I am not worried. I have not steamed these sleeves, and think I most definitely should have for the photo.



Stitch markers, the stitch marker Toby made me for mothers day fell apart, so off I went last Thursday to the bead shop for repairs - but while there I got very distracted and came home with 10 more than I went in with. First up are some gold-fish, two blue and what was meant to be two red, but with five year old poppy helping we have one red-gold and one gold-red - that is ok, it happens.


2nd up, we have some with letters. I am trying a new knit podcast, Knit science, and her accent is gorgeous, I work with a woman from south America and she sounds so similar. So far I have only listened to two issues, but I think I like, content so-so, voice great. Caren (I think that is her name) visited a fiber fair, and was shown ABC markers for identifying where in your knitting you were. She also reviewed Cat Bordhi's new sock architecture book but that is a whole different story. When I spotted alphabet beads, I had a bit of play, well, ABC didn't do it for me, but F(front), B(back), s(start or side), and x (?), did - so here we are.




And these little cuties, were in a section of Peruvian beads, well on my last work trip - I found and ordered enough Peru Eki Riva baby alpaca to knit a cardie or jersey for me. I think these Peruvian beads with their little hand painted alpacas were almost kama, meant to be.


and the yarn - its here, 100% Baby Alpaca(is that like the difference between lambswool and sheeps wool?), 200 m 50 g, I got 13 balls in teal and 2 balls of a soft bone white. Ball band says 2.5-3.75 needles, 36 rows to 28 stitches

... and those 4 projects, Fannigan=1, Chris's garter ribbed sweater=2, fish blanket =3 (but a slow food project - so there is no rush, it will take years), and a sun hat for poppy in crochet that has never been blogged. Now five counting Janes Hedgerow socks.

Just me and my 2nd sleeve, ... and some badges ...

So, today I'll show you sleeve number 2, progress on the garter rib jersey, the badges I think I've earned, and finally I muse about the impact of Ravelry on knitting web activity. And no - I'm still waiting for my invite.



Sleeve number 2, well on its way, last night there was a little frogging, I discovered I was out by 3 stitches in my 'dot' placement on one needle 4 rows below, and initially thought I could tink down to each erroneous stitch and knit back up. It soon became clear that frogging back 4 rows as going to be quicker, neater and save my sanity, so I did.




I usually knit Fannigan at night, when I have time to focus on the colour work, and snatch 10-20 minutes in the morning and while dinner is cooking to knit on garter rib jersey at other times of the day. But despite not knitting a lot on the garter rib I am making progress, see 9" already!
















And these - well I've awarded myself 3 of Brenda's badges.

1. The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge - A requirement for all Knitting Scouts, the recipient must do his or her bit to present knitting in a positive light, whilst at the same time avoiding all references to “hipness”, grandmothers, and yoga.
   
   I've earned it because I have a knitting blog, knit in public, knit gifts for non knitters and proudly wear my knitting, as my sleeve!
   
2. The “I Will Impress You With My Math Prowess” Badge - The recipient is a whiz at substituting yarns and calculating gauge, can space increases and decreases evenly and is fully comfortable with the basic math encountered in all knitting projects.
   
   I've earned it because I usually use my own patterns and usually try and find the math reasoning behind the patterns of others.
   
3. The “MacGyver” Badge (Level Two) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used a strand of Regia Bamboo to slice cheese, or repaired a small appliance with a metal knitting needle.
   
   - Earrings reformed into stitch markers and using toy rings as stitch markers a few posts back

and lastly (and no I'm not going to admit publicly to doing what it takes to earn the badges for knitting things with no practical purpose or under the influence ...well maybe coldrex?).






... and Ravelry, I feel almost uncomfortable saying this, but it is a thought that has been nagging away for quite some time. My favorite knitting forum, actually my only knitting forum (but thats because it is the easiest to use) seems very quite, and for a few weeks my knit-blog-sphere seems less active, yet is full of comments about how much time/fun/friends people are having behind the closed doors of Ravelry. Now I'm not a gated community kind of gal, and I'm very into non-discrimination - I've been quite vocal and proactive in getting my wee special boy into a Montessori classroom despite a principles reluctance, but right now while Ravelry is still beta, and invite only - well .... is it me or are the spaces away from Ravelry quieter just recently. Of course there are 183,000 hits when you Google 'ravelry knitting', and there are by my count 10496 people in, and 18832 people waiting ... thats a lot of knitters! 29,328! Still there should still be 18,832 knitters outside to play and knit with me?

Today I am

• You signed up on July 2, 2007
• You are #12039 on the list.
• 1543 people are ahead of you in line.
• 17289 people are behind you in line.
• 35% of the list has been invited so far

I'm not the only one ....

Look what I found on utube tonight, I had an email notification of a new comment (nothing but rude very rude spam - take that - block that user!) and in the side bar was this little gem, and predating my own video steeking adventure by a whole 2 months. I admire any knitter who cuts a steek on their lap, I needed a stable table, a quiet space and some meditation first.
Go Kat ...



And update on the baby for my baby blanket project, Gill tells me the baby is past due but is not rushing things - I'll let you know ...

Blocking - the answer to almost everything

I'm not sure if you remember that I wasn't totally happy with the weaving on my last cotton washcloth - but told myself that washing would improve things.


And yes - it did improve after the washing machine trip, actually I noticed it improved in the bathroom when damp - so a good old wet block would have done it. First image is immediately after weaving, 2nd image is following a week in the bathroom and a trip around the washing machine, and a line dry. Oh - you can still see some distortion, but if it weren't for that edge dimple you'd never know.

Those knitting traditions - like blocking - well - those old time knitters knew what they were doing didn't they? Another trip round the washing machine and you'd never pick where it was joined - well, appart from the small dimple in the edge. And that dimple - a cunning plan to identify the join, no a over zelous tightening of the join in an effort to improve the appearance in the non-stretchy cotton yarn.

Sleeve - nearly one done, one to go ...

Today, sleeve update, and - well I've got a shop bought cardigan or two to share (I know, is that allowed for a knitter? - gasp - shock - horror). One has been in my wardrobe since beforeToby was 1 - and now he is 8. Its a little worn, but still a firm favourite, so much so I'm using it to estimate how long to knit the sleeves and body of Fannigan. And its got the cutest little neck line detail - that I'd love to incorporate into a garment one day. So the sleeve, I've knit 50 cm of a planned 54 cm, so close, sleeve no2 could probably be born tonight ...


So here is my favourite red cardigan. You know those wardrobe advice articles in magazines and on tv that ask you if you buy the same item over and over. Some how its OK if the item is blue jeans, or black wool pants, or classic Converse Sneakers, but not so OK if the item is a noticeable signature piece - like a red cardigan. Well I'm apparently a sucker for Red cardigans. I've got two at the moment, both blue based reds, both with "textile" features. First an almost vintage Sabatini cardigan with pretty little mesh flowers trapped between two mesh layers around the front neckline. So cute, really fitted, super stretchy, great over a little cami top or singlet or dress, or with jeans.I love the fit of this little red cardie so much I've used it to provide the measurements for Fannigan, Little Red Sabatini (LRS) has sleeves 50 cm long, and a body 31 cm long. I'm making Fannigan with sleeves 54 cm and the body 34 cm. And unlike LRS which has waist shaping Fannigan will be boxy, and not so snug.

But ... ... ... ... now Fannigan looks like this - which seems odd. I've measured and rechecked, and finally realise that the visual 'weight' of the yoke is missing so the proportions do look wrong. But I trust my measurements, so I'll knit on. Plus although this has my favorite blue based intense red - its not another red cardigan. And that neck detail on LRS, little mesh flowers in different colours, caught between two layers of sheer mesh. I'm sure I could work that into a future cardigan or jersey, maybe a band of knitted open lace like fishnet between the body of the garment and the neck ribbing?




The other red cardigan in my wardrobe right now is newer, bought a few months ago, a red Mild Red zip front cardigan with a tucked back and woven shoulder details. That tucking detail on the back is inspiring, It gives me ideas for i-cord, and knit tucks, and sewn tucks and traveling cables - all sorts of little interesting details that we knitters know about. The tucking on this one pulls the back in close to the body, and then it flares out like a vintage victorian jacket.

Stitch markers, mine really are knitting jewellery

In my last post, Shelly admired my stitch marker and asked if it was antique, its not but I'll explain a neat trick for turning old jewellery into stitch markers, and then a quick update on the garter rib jersey for Bear.

I used to admire the pretty stitch markers shown on the blogs of other knitters, but no such things were available here - still aren't. Best we can do is the ubiquitous plastic rings in larger sizes for worsted weight yarn and larger. No good at all if you are a sock knitter. So I had unrequited stitch marker envy. Then, somewhere on the net I read about turning old earrings into stitch markers. I had a quite a few old earrings, from the early to mid 1990's, and was intrigued. It seemed simple, take a metal needle several sizes larger than you usually knit with, wind the earring hook around the needle to create a loop and snip of any extra using wire side cutters. Voila - a stitch marker is born. I tried it and it worked well, sometimes the ends snag some yarns but with a bit of plier squishing you can prevent most of that.


So inspired, I converted several earrings, here are others. So far I have only converted my cheaper glass and metal bead earrings, but I do have some semi-precious and artisan hand wrought precious metal earrings and if I were not worried about the reaction of Bear (my jewellery gifting spouse) I would consider transforming more of my earrings to markers. I don't wear earrings much, only really on dress up occasions. Its not that I don't like earrings, but that they don't seem so fashionable now and I just forget to include them in my dressing rituals.


Last mothers day Bear took my two wee ones to town and had them make stitch markers in the bead shop for me - so here are the only purpose built stitch markers I own. These have smooth rings and are much lighter than the converted earrings. Great for sock yarns and fingering projects. I also have a collection of plain silver jump rings in a variety of sizes to use as markers, again from the bead shop and an extravagant cost of around 5 cents each.


Then when working on this latest jersey, on size 5mm needles, I found all my stitch markers except the ruby bead one that caught Shelly's eye were far to small for a 5.5mm size needle. I could have used the other ruby bead marker - but that would have confused me, I do like to indicate the start of a round with a unique marker. On top of the freezer - which lives next to the washing machine - I found this cute as a button child sized ring. I suspect it came in a party bag for Poppy and has had a trip through the washing machine, along with many other small toy items - she has not spotted it and for now it is mine, mine I tell you. It is a little big but is working well as a jumbo sized stitch marker. So much so - I have begun to eye up other teeny tiny rings in her bedroom for the same use. She has so many ... and one day it will be my jewellery she wants to dip into, I'll just get in first.


... and this, is progress on the garter rib jersey, inspired by and based loosely on Interweave Press Holiday issue Charcoal Ribbed Cardigan, page 48, scroll down. I'm knitting it in the round not flat, and will EZ saddle shoulder the sleeves. the yarn is from naturally coloured sheep, slightly more that sport weight, and 'sticky' to knit with - but washes up soft and slightly felted. A good steek project methinks.

finished !

I've got 2 Pomatomusii , which seems be the plural of Pomatomus(Thanks Donyale). So today we have the obligatory celebratory photos, the other finished item (do washcloths count?), and a new beginning.














Details -

• Pattern:Pomatomus by Cookie published in Knitty,
• Yarn: Trekking pro natura 75% Wool 25%Yarn. Started 17th June,
• Finished 20th August (but there was a fair isle baby blanket in there as well)
• Needles Brittany 2.25mm dpns
• Knit again : Yes but try replacing YO with M1's to avoid holes.
  
• Comments : nicest shaped and resolved top down heel I've knit yet.
  

And when grafting the toe, as Pomatomus is top down, I wished I had a darning mushroom. I really have meant to buy one, but never see then in my lys. But while tidying up my stash, and working out what the next filler project was to be I found this - a sock mushroom! I think it is a forgotten heirloom from my MIL's estate. I also think I would like one of those wooden eggs, slightly smaller for grafting the odd smaller sock toe. Lorna, knit guru at our spinners and knitters guild has taught me to graft glove fingers over old fashioned wooden pegs, so one of those needs to be in my work basket as well.


So I also finished the greener than green washcloth. I've never really been happy grafting cotton, and this one is no exception. Oh I love grafting wool yarns, and happily graft toes, and underarms, and even tubular hems on top down cardigans. But cotton, no I don't like it. Why? Because it is very very hard to get it looking seamless. It always looks ok when I stitch it, but once done - unlike wool where a gentle tug settles things into place, well - - - you can see the line of the graft.



But once the wash-cloth is folded in the laundry pile, or even better has a couple of trips through the washing machine under its metaphorical belt, well, no one ever notices - or that is what I tell myself.
















And I started a new project, a sweater for Bear, in naturally coloured yarn, slightly sticky but that is the lanolin so my hands are 'oh so soft'. So far we have 8 rows of K2P1 rib, followed by the body in garter rib (that the same rib but every second round is just knit).

thanks, I'm always flattered at the number of visitors, so please do let me know what you like to read about - I'll try to customise it somewhat.
stella

half a finished object ...

Today - my first Pomatomus sock is finished, so one down and half one to go. I am warming a little to the lace now she is finished, but Poppy - aged 5 - did exclaim "but you made it full of holes!"Maybe holes in knitting are not her thing either? Of course in this photo, the holes don't show. During the week I tried this single finished sock over black opaque tights and they looked really really good. As I said - I'm warming to them, I love the way the 'waves' flow from leg to heel flap, and it has to be one of the nicest fitting and shaped heel cups I have knitted so far.

Inpsired by Helen from the latest Yarnivale to think about how best to photograph socks, I set myself up on the front door stairs just like she did, with camera. She is right - when you stop to think and plan - it is hard to photograph your own feet. There were some cute front door creatures who insisted on being in the shot, concrete cat, and our non identical bootscrapper twins dash-hound and hedgehog. That I admit is a bout as cute as my house gets, apart from the kids, the cutesy-things go outside. My dad has given me a painted folk art roster cast iron door bell, with a large school house bell to ring - but we just can't bring ourselves to install it. I'm sure he is offended. But now I discuss the front door animals - I can see why he gave us the rooster door bell.

I realised how close I was to finishing these socks last thursday, so have knit only Pomatomus since. Fannigan is on hold, for now, I look forward to the exitment of selecting a new background project - socks, hat, I'm really not sure what is next..... Diamante maybe? Brother Amos? I've made my donation - so the pattern will be mine soon?
Here is Pomatomus the 2nd of the pair, I've nearly finished the gusset decreases just the foot to go. Looking after them is Concrete Cat, bought as a memorial to my first ever cat, Moses, a girl-cat I got as a kitten when I was 14. We had family cats before, but Moses was mine - or as mine as a cat can ever be. She lived to be 23 years old - and for most of that was a scratchy, grochety, grummpy cat with sharp claws, except for when she sat on my knee when I knitted. The face just reminded me of her attitude, we were here when she wanted us, for food and warm cuddles- and the rest of the time we were just in the way and told so in no uncertain terms.

And while fossicking around the cast-on site I found these - and I feel the deep need to earn me some badges. Maybe basic math?

Sleeve progress, stash planning ....

Today, I've got an update on the Fannigan sleeve, nearly finished the greener than green dishcloth, and I bought a very cool very warm Icebreaker jersey which has such useful sleeves I just have to share. I've had one of these before - but it was 10 years ago and the sleeves were much narrower - this one is perfect.

So Fannigan sleeve number one is progressing well, I knit again last night after the photo was made - so now she is 35 cm long. The goal here is around 56 cm's, not that I have freakishly long arms, but I live in Dunedin, the home of overlong sleeves. Sleeves that not only brush your knuckles but that have to be pulled back to show your fingers are not uncommon. We as a city seem to like scrunched extra long sleeves over our hands in winter - or maybe I just spend my days with young alternative students for whom this is popular. But when you are slightly above average height like me - well getting long sleeves generally requires purchasing designer garments ($$$), large sizes (not flattering) or making my own.



And Wash-cloth, well nearly finished, as expected, a fast and not challenging knit. I have nearly run out of the green - don't panic - there is another ball in stash. I really don't like joining cotton. To do so invisibly involves splitting the yarn into plies and either a splice knit and weave, or just knit and weave the plies in separately. Always seems a lot of work, but usually takes less than 2-3 minutes. Discussing it here I am not really sure why I put it aside a few days ago?


And the ice breaker sweater. Well at the last educ-industry conference, where a really cool job placement person bring us academics together either with people from the cutting and harsh face of the fashion industry, for the good of our students, the Ice breaker designer was there. Speaking about the design process in a commercial arena. Basically he spoke of how Icebreaker was designed to be invisible - that is you got up, you put on your icebreakers (yes layering is designed into the range), you went about your day, worked, skied, climbed mountains, all sorts of cool outdoor stuff. Then at the end of the day you wondered about a meal with friends, or a drink out, and looked down to see if your clothes were tidy enough and their was the forgotten icebreaker jersey, looking ready for a drink at a casual bar or meal at a cafe. All day it had kept you warm and comfortable and was 'invisible', once donned, you had not noticed it until you needed to look good for the evening. Sounds like a great design philosophy to me. Oh there was lots of technical stuff about the micron of the yarns, the specification of the harvest conditions, and the spinning all to make the fabric warm, light and ultra soft as well as wear exceedingly well.
But is that that cool bit ?
No, its the sleeves, I bought one of these around 10 years ago, when the brand was new on the market. I bought it because of the sleeve detail, and I bought this latest one because of the sleeve detail. I bought the last one before children, when Melrose place was must see t.v. and chocolate was the 'new black'. The last one still looked nearly new, but ten years ago the icebreakers were made much more sleek, more fitted and I always found the fore-arm was cut so very narrow I couldn't even wear a watch under it. Last year I let it go to goodwill, but did regret it. This time inspired by the talk and the colours in the range he showed, I wandered into the Icebreaker shop at Wellington International Airport and found first they were $70 cheaper than when I last priced one, and second the sleeves were roomier.

So that cute little key hole - its for your thumb - built in fetchings!

Excuse the dark pictures, it was after dusk here, and the flash makes the background blackish. The sleeves don't really twist like that, its just to rotate my hand to face the camera.

I've been thinking how this could be for a hand knit ... top down or bottom up, knit a ribbing, then add a second pre-knit loop of ribbing? I think it will tumble in my mind for a while yet.

And stash planning - well I've ordered some yummy new yarn . . . Yes, inspired encouraged by the enablers at KR I've asked for enough Alpaca to knit a whole sweater! I'll let you know more when it arrives in a few weeks.

finally - we land in Dunedin

So here I am in Dunedin, 3 days away, a delayed return due to cross winds, and straight back to taking my two to three birthday parties. Yes, 3, another invite came in and was accepted whilst I was away. So while away I wore my Work Hat, my Research co-ordinator hat, my Montessori Parent and committee hat, and My 'I wanna be better at knitting - can you help me' hat. Whoa - what a busy 3 days.

So waiting for me at home was two parcels from Amazon - now can any-one tell me how amazon can ship a heavy hard cover large book from the states to New Zealand for $12 and no one in the states can ship a circular needle for less than $30? Weird. So these two books - I don't know which to introduce first. International Arts and Crafts edited by Karen Livingstone and Linda Pary - beautiful and essential for any one wanting to understand the arts and crafts movement in a wider context than the usual reports of William Morris, Gustav Stickly, furniture, ceramics, and houses. This has clothing, photography, and many other countries not just Britain and the US. The second book is Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston - which joins two others on my book shelf, Historical fashion in detail, and Modern fashion in detail, All published by the Victoria and Albert Museum and again beautiful resources, lots of close up photos and detail drawings of each example, perfect for any one looking at using textiles, not just for fashion. All different editors, and I am collecting these slowely second hand, I think there is one to go ... but couldn't locate it on amazon (Ethnic clothing in detail?).

And I visited Nancy's Needle work
while in wellington, who stocked Noro - yummy and beautiful but only in heavier weights and I pretty much only use sport, or in preference fingering. And 100% Alpaca by Elin Riva (I got the dark teal green and am waiting for 2 balls of bone to be sent down), and this very yummy braid. I am thinking a denim skirt for Poppy with this as trim.
So They don't offer the Knitting city and guilds, only the embroidery now - but will apply to and in a year or so - I hope to begin doing that. My current work related study should be finished by then. They also had the most beautiful wall of embroidery things, yarns, threads, indian gold work things in 20 different types and they mail order. My travelling companian who is working on a masters including indian embroidery was very impressed.

And what did I knit while away - I was boring, and started a silky very green italian cotton wash cloth. Short rowed, garter stitch, the edges have the first stitch slipped purl wise, and one row of knitting worked from centre to corner after the short rows before working the next triangle. No wraps.
I also caught up with Gill, who loved the Baby blanket, and the stipey cotton fleece lining, and we had the most amazing dinner at a wee Italian cafe in Cuba street.

Must go - next party to drop small ones at - my kids seem so much more socially connected than me - or maybe modern kids just are....

sorry its tuesday night -

I fly out tomorrow morning at 10ish, and have nothing to post. Oh there has been some knitting, the fannigan sleeve is now around 22 cm. I'm off for work and workish things until Saturday. I get to hand over the baby blanket - and am visiting a shop where they offer the City and Guilds certificates in embroidery but not in hand knitting. We, a local knitter and I are interested and want to see if they can offer the knitting one. They also stock Noro - so I'm quite keen to see and touch that.

So - back saturday, but maybe sunday before I blog. There are 2, count em - two, birthday parties to attend to in the weekend - lucky kids. Although one is a vintage screening of a thunderbirds movie - so that could be fun and interrupt the knitting on Sunday.

see you

I always kind of envy'd those who traveled for work, seemed kind of special and fun, but now that i have done a bit this last few months - it isn't all its cracked up to be .. and I miss the last bit of the gansey workshop :-(.

It's my knitting and I'll frog if I want to.

Today, a comparison 'loose' and firmer corrugated ribbing, I worked my way back to a few rounds of Pomatomus where I didn't pay close enough attention to the the chart, which means today I have both a frog and a tink report.

I know that this is probably taking perfection further than some - but those 3 rows of loose stitches I wrote about in my last post really annoyed me. They popped up, stood proud over the knit columns. Remember Monday night I had cast on and knit around 1 cm of corrugated ribbing? Then latter Tuesday I noticed how loose the red purls were, and ohh how they bugged me. So on Wednesday I removed the sleeve cuff from the needles and cast on again and knit just over 3 cm of ribbing - its always faster the second time? Why is that? Thats the frog report, I didn't really frog, but ripping off the needles is pretty close to frogging isn't it?

I also knit the first row of the colour work, as opposed to ribing that first row - and yes from the front it is neater, but now I have a row of red 'dashes' across the reverse, near the edge. I won't frog this, and I will do the same for the other sleeve, but . . . . I'm not sure I will do that again. Tidy frontage compromised with a red dashed line - you choose? And did the twisted german cast on prevent curl - well hard to say. You don't get much curl in a narrow tube like a sleeve - it takes a body sized tube to tell for sure. For now - I'll keep using a twisted German cast on.


So that little problem fixed, I knit on. Over the next few nights I finished the corrugated ribbing, and onto 16 rows of 2x2 checker board, and then the dotted stripes as done on the body. I've made good progress, the sleeve is now 14.5 cm. I am increasing every 6th row, using a paired 'knit into the stitch below - but twist it' increase. New technique I'm trying out, as seen on the EZ knitting glossary. What became more obvious in the photo, and I didn' even notice it in 'real life' is that snagged stitch about half way up the centre of the sleeve - going to have to fix that.


And Pomatomus, well - I had put pomatomus aside. With knitting round the heel and onto the foot came a need to follow the chart - closely. Cookie has worked out a very clever variation on the lace to make it fit the instep - but the rythm of the yarn overs and ssk's are not so obvious. I was enjoying knitting the sleeve - almost mindless round and round repetative colour work, and Pomatomus seemed like lots more attention would be required. Last night I deliberately selected the sock from the workbasket - and made myself get back into knitting her. It is ok - I made progress. I did have to frog back 3 rows after reaslising I had missed where yo started on the left end of the pattern. Tink - not frog - I'm not confident enought to frog lace - so tink it was.

Oh, I love the yarn, I love the heel, I love the twisted rib, but I don't like holes in my socks. I will finish this sock, and her mate - but right now I am not loving those holes. I've never really been a lace knitter, some how holes, any holes always seem loose and untidy so I am now wondering if Pomatomus could be knit as a solid, the increases by lifted or twisted yarn overs so the holes were minimised, but the waves of rib remained. Maybe I'm just to close, after all socks are work a whole body length from your eyes - and that far away the holes do look good.

any way - I'm away from Wednesday to Saturday again this week, for work, and to hand over the baby blanket to Gill, which will be good. I will try and post before I go. And I will miss knit night. This time I will take a whole set of needles with me - I'm not getting stuck in a far flung city with limited knitting tools again!