Fabulous Sock Pal!

Do I have the best sock pal of all, or what?? Kathy of Vast Amount of Spare Time
used her sparse time to make me this delicious pair of "Rock and Weave" socks out of sumptuous Cherry Hill Supersock yarn in a color called Spanish moss.
Not only are the socks beautifully made, not only do they fit perfectly, not only are they a perfect color, but everything about them shows that Kathy read my blog carefully to determine what I like. What a woman!! I can't tell you how touched I was by her thoughtfulness. For example, she knew I lived in Spain and chose "Spanish Moss" as the colorway.
Cute of all cute things, she mailed the items in a ball winder box!!! Of course, my photo is upside down; she packed everything right side up. When I hit the turn arrow on the photo manager site, somehow the photo flipped twice and I didn't notice. Sorry, Kathy.

She also knows that I am making a blanket for my 16 year old (and now one for my 30 year old) out of leftover sock yarn. She knows even that I beg for leftover sock yarn. So, she included some of her leftover sock yarn, as well as the leftovers from the sock she made for me! What a woman!

Plus, she knows that I make a variety of knitted items for Christmas presents and put them in a basket from which family and friends can select an item. She thoughtfully added some very soft fleecy yarn that will make a great hat for Christmas 2007.

Moreover, she knows that I like Chocolate with spice in it. She noted that I liked a chocolate bar from Barcelona that had pepper in. What a blog-reader that woman is!! She sent me some made-in-Oregon chocolate bars with chili. I can't wait to try them. My 30 year old (who went to school in Eugene, OR and who lived in Portland for a while) is salivating over the bars and can't wait for me to open one.

And finally, she sent me some badger cream for cuticles. How did she know that I have hangnails and cuticle problems? Did she realize that Wisconsin is the Badger state and, thus, purchase some Badger cream for me???

Kathy, you are truly a thoughtful and caring person.

Thank you. Now, I need to read your blog more carefully. I know there was just a wedding in the family, and that you made an outstandingly fabulous shawl, and ties, and purses and more. And, I know that you lost your beloved cat. How sad, but how wonderful Tabby was in your life. We have a very beloved Cosmic, who follows the psychotic Molly (blessedly short-lived) and the most loved Pippin. Cats are such wonderful personalities and they are missed terribly when they go.

Sockapalooza and deadlines

I met the deadline. Honest I did. I finished my Sockapalooza socks long before August 1. In fact, I finished them before July 3. I wrapped them up with a bar of chocolate from Barcelona, Spain, personally delivered by Betty who visited me from July 3 until July 13 and who attended Knitting Camp with me. I even wrapped them up with a little bag to hold sock knitting on my sock pal's wrist so that she can knit socks while walking. And, I included cookie cutters for making heart cookies of varying sizes. After all, don't all knitters love cookies???

But, did I take photos of all these delights and post them??? No! Why?? Well, to tell the truth, I wasn't organized enough. But, I did take photos of the socks (worn on my legs that show stubble! Ugh!!)

I made short spring, summer, early fall socks. I love the scalloped cuff made by the chevron design.
The chevron design makes the cotton/wool/nylon yarn hold a snug shape on the foot. And the terra cotta, brown, gold and peach-y colors went well, I hope, with my sock pal's home in New Mexico. I never make exact match socks with self striping yarn. I like the slight randomness given by not matching exactly. I figure if I wanted exact matching socks I would purchase them.

Oops, there's another photo of the socks. Look closely at the balls of the feet. Can you see htat I added two sections of short rows on the balls of the feet? This is to add more sock and more yarn where one needs it--on the blump of the ball of the foot where many of us wear out the socks. Adding a few more rows results in less stretch and stress on that part of the sock and no more holes!
I didn't take the chevron/lace pattern into the toe portion of the sock. I did that once on a pair of my socks and the lacy yarn overs quickly wore thin and I had to duplicate stitch the entire toe area.

My sock pal already received her socks and says they fit! Whew!! After knitting her socks, I became jealous of her receiving new cotton/wool/nylon shortie socks. I wear the shortie socks in the summer when the weather is a little cool or when going to air conditioned movie theaters and the like. So, I make myself a pair while travelling in Idaho and Washington the past three weeks. But, I wasn't yet organized to take a photo to post!
Truth be told, I haven't yet unpacked and I don't know where my camera is!!!!

Experiments in knitting

Here at Gail's Good Yarn, we wish to report the results of important scientific study pertaining to uses of yarn and needles to produce excellent products. We bring you periodic results from our laboratories.

Experiment #1

Materials: Fortissima Socka, Cotton Color, Southwest type terracotta and browns
Two Circular Needles: Sizes 2mm and 2.25 mm
Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks, Chevron Patterns, Chevron

Goal: Short summer/spring socks for Sockapalooza pal who lives in New Mexico

Method: Begin heel after one pattern repeat

Results:

Use of smaller needle for the sole to make fabric denser to increase lifetime of wear: Excellent
Effect of self striping yarn with chevron pattern: good
Effect of colorway: poor
Snugness of fit around ankle: Below poor.
Comments for further study: Rip this baby out!!! Start over. Next time with this pattern, use wool, not cotton, sock yarn.

Experiment #2.
Materials: Fortissima Socka, Cotton Color, Blues
Needles: Two circular needles, sizes 2.oo and 2.25
Pattern: Feather and Fan from Socks, Socks, Socks

Goal: Short summer/spring socks for Sockapalooza pal who lives in New Mexico

Method: Begin heel after three pattern repeats

Results:
Use of smaller needle for the sole to make fabric denser to increase lifetime of wear: Excellent
Effect of self striping yarn with feather and fan pattern: Excellent
Effect of colorway: Excellent

Snugness around ankle: Excellent
Comments for further study: Continue with this method. Make 2 socks. However, question whether these socks are appropriate for sockapalooza exchange. Feedback from question posted on Sockapalooza blog suggested discontinue idea of short socks for New Mexico summer. Further study recommended for Sockapalooza exchange socks.

Experiment #3.

Materials: Old sweaters, washed in hot water

Needles: Sewing Machine

Goal: Make mittens faster than knitting

Results: excellent


Problems noted: Unevenness of thickness of wool once "felted". Holes developed in thumb gore where hands grip steering wheel of car. Note different types of construction of fabrics before felting.

Remedy: duplicate stitch with sock yarn!!
Results: Destruction of pattern design of original fabric. Gauge is larger. Longevity of wear increased.
Comments for further study: wear mittens for additional year and report back to laboratory.


Experiment #4.



Materials: Laceweight cotton yarn, unmercerized, unidentified source. Yarn on top in photo is sock yarn. Yarn on bottom is yarn used in experiment.

Needles: Size 4 Addi Turbo Lace Needles
Pattern: Landscape Shawl

Goal: Make non-lacy shawl for step-daughter's wedding on July 2 in Seattle. Make shawl to recipient's specifications; i.e. use cotton, lightweight, non-lacy

Method: Knit as directed pattern.

Results:
Use of laceweight cotton: effect of draping--excellent
Ease of use of laceweight cotton: Poor. Hard on fingers. Hard on knitting technique. Need to develop new technique for holding yarn.
Use of AddiTurbo lace needles: Poor to average. Cotton lace weight yarn gets stuck on the join of the cable with the needle. Ability to push stitches onto the working end of the needles is difficult.
Ability to maintain consistent tension with laceweight cotton: poor
Comments for future: Pray that blocking will remove unevenness of tension. Pray that step-daughter will like result.

Thank you for reading this installment of reports from the experimental knitting laboratory. At the present, these are the only experiments in progress in our laboratory. Our scientist is working at breakneck speed to complete Experiment #4 in time to mail to Seattle before end of the month.

Sock decisions!

I am participating in Sockapalooza 4, for the first time. Unfortunately, however, my sock pal does not have a website, so I can't scope her out. I do know, however, that she lives in New Mexico. Hmmm. I live in Wisconsin where wool socks can be worn nearly every month of the year, depending on the weather on a particular date. I would imagine that New Mexico's weather requires wool socks in only a few months of the year. Therefore, I thought of using cotton/wool/nylon yarn and making shortie socks; i.e. socks that come just above the ankle. Or, could shortie socks be cheating--less knitting. Not so fancy. I'd use a lacy stitch, perhaps. Or, make two pair to make up for the fewer rows needed for the socks.

Any comments? What would you recommend??

Thanks to those who commented on where they wear their shawls. Jeans and t-shirts seem to be perfect shawl partners. I've been wearing my lace shawls only for dress wear, but I think I will loosen up a bit and wear them on most any occasion!!

Cheers to all you sock knitters!