Today's post - the latest sock, after a day or so ploughing thru the stitch dictionary books I have I found one that would work for a sock .. and made a start. So far so good. I've also sent away all of my Christmas stuff ... yesterdays effort was two trips to the post office. The first at 8:30am was quick, the second at 1:30pm involved queues out the door and considerable waiting. Still it is all done, all the new Zealand relies and friends have been shipped to, and two pens have gone away to be restored, one to Greg Minuskin to have the nib worked on, and a second to Gerry Berg to have its internals restored so it will fill and hold ink. Speaking of ink - the inks arrived yesterday .. and both Bear and I enjoyed dipping and swishing the new colours across paper. I think we are both a little overwhelmed by having 7 new inks to select from, on top of the eleven we already had. That stuff is just like yarn stash, addictive in all its colour choice. So today's post is about the new sock, new ink and that is about all.
So after a wee bit of time looking thru all those stitch dictionaries I decided on this pattern. There were several things going for this one, it wasn't lace and as this is for Bears sock that was a consideration. It is regular in that the repeats are easy to map out once you get going, and it looks both interesting and simple. It is Rib and Braid from page 201 of BW Second Treasury.
On the sock I briefly toyed with working the rib over the entire instep, but struggled with how to extend the braid right around the leg after the heel. So ... I split the braid into two columns and have decided to run one panel up each side of the instep, after the heel I can start a second panel next to these ones. It should work, but one thing I have learned about design is what seems good as an idea sometimes isn't quite right in reality .. so I'm prepared to modify the ideas as the sock grows. I realise that once washed and blocked the yarn will fluff and the cable will look fuller .. but perhaps the singles yarn isn't a good cable or twisted stitches yarn?
And Ink, as part of our treat order, Bear and I ordered two of our favorite inks in glass bottles (Diamine Pumpkin and Saddle Brown). These are dearer and larger than the plastic that is usually available, but some how glass seems more luxurious and traditional than plastic. Neither of us had had a good look at the glass bottles before for Diamine inks, but loved the old fashioned details of the bottles when we saw them. I just adore the mock bakerlite plastic cap - all mottled green, with the sunray glass bottle.
I also added a Waterman Encre Rouge Red to our collection, and while the bottle is glass not plastic it seems more modern that the glass one used for Diamine ink.
Bear pointed out something he has learned along the way. These faceted bottles are traditional for inks so one can tip them over and make filling pens easier once the ink level drops.... how cool is that?
.... take care
hope the weather where you are is as you want it, that being snowing where and when it should for Christmas effect and picnic weather where it should be (here)
na Stella
So after a wee bit of time looking thru all those stitch dictionaries I decided on this pattern. There were several things going for this one, it wasn't lace and as this is for Bears sock that was a consideration. It is regular in that the repeats are easy to map out once you get going, and it looks both interesting and simple. It is Rib and Braid from page 201 of BW Second Treasury.
On the sock I briefly toyed with working the rib over the entire instep, but struggled with how to extend the braid right around the leg after the heel. So ... I split the braid into two columns and have decided to run one panel up each side of the instep, after the heel I can start a second panel next to these ones. It should work, but one thing I have learned about design is what seems good as an idea sometimes isn't quite right in reality .. so I'm prepared to modify the ideas as the sock grows. I realise that once washed and blocked the yarn will fluff and the cable will look fuller .. but perhaps the singles yarn isn't a good cable or twisted stitches yarn?
And Ink, as part of our treat order, Bear and I ordered two of our favorite inks in glass bottles (Diamine Pumpkin and Saddle Brown). These are dearer and larger than the plastic that is usually available, but some how glass seems more luxurious and traditional than plastic. Neither of us had had a good look at the glass bottles before for Diamine inks, but loved the old fashioned details of the bottles when we saw them. I just adore the mock bakerlite plastic cap - all mottled green, with the sunray glass bottle.
I also added a Waterman Encre Rouge Red to our collection, and while the bottle is glass not plastic it seems more modern that the glass one used for Diamine ink.
Bear pointed out something he has learned along the way. These faceted bottles are traditional for inks so one can tip them over and make filling pens easier once the ink level drops.... how cool is that?
.... take care
hope the weather where you are is as you want it, that being snowing where and when it should for Christmas effect and picnic weather where it should be (here)
na Stella
3 comments:
Can't wait to see the sock - that's a nice looking pattern!
I love your inks! I need to get some new ones for my pens, most definitely. I also need to do some research on how to get a fountain pen really really clean of ink; many of mine have been in decades of use, and then could use a spic and span cleaning, rather than my usual lick and a promise.
The sock is looking great! I know what you mean about designs not quite going as planned (having spend yesterday knitting the same heel three times while trying to work a few things out), but I wish you peaceful and non-ripping sock knitting this Christmas week :)
Love the cable pattern you chose!
I haven't used inks in a long time.
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