Hedera

Time has a way of getting away from you. There has been knitting going on even with the sad lack of blog content.

I've finished the first pair of socks for this month's Sock Innovation knit-along.


Specs:

Pattern: Hedera by Cookie A
Yarn: Froelich Wolle Special Blauband
Needles: 1/2.5 mm dpn's
Size: Women's 10
Started: July 1, 2009 Finished: July 19, 2009

I'm going to try and get a pair of Rick's done since they are my favorite pattern from the book.

I only have the sleeves left to do on the Peacock cardigan.



I had hoped to get all the pieces done on my recent trip to Atlantic City, New Jersey. I finished the front to discover that my size 5 needles and bag of knitting notions was missing. Upon getting on the bus to head back home I found the notions bag in the over head. I found one needle on the floor and the lady riding behind me found the other one. I was so disappointed when I thought had lost my fancy scissors and needle holder among other things.

I had a great time in Atlantic City. I don't gamble and gave my $30.00 comp to my mom. We stayed at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. Our free show was a production of Fame! It was very well done and the singing was great. We explored the outlets and the boardwalk. The weather was great the entire time and did not rain until the day we left. I plan to return and hopefully will be able to take some of the tours that are available.

Sunshine

This evening I finished the 4th pair of Cookie A socks, Sunshine. Another easy pattern to memorize and knit. I don't know why I thought I might run out of yarn because I had plenty to spare.




Specs:
Pattern: Sunshine from Sock Innovation by Cookie A
Yarn: Trekking Undyed dyed with Pro Chem One Shot Dyes Cornflower
Needles: 1.5 / 2.5 6-inch dpn's from Knit Picks
Started: June 1, 2009 Finished: June 17, 2009
Mods: I knitted four repeats of the pattern on the legs. I like my socks longer in the calf than most of her patterns suggest. This pattern is quick to knit. I was held up by Vacation Bible School last week and didn't get much done. I was unable to capture the true color of this yarn. The closest I came was the first picture I posted earlier this month.

I made my regular check on the garden today and found several tomatoes just beginning. I was worried that they might not set since I had this problem once before. The lone cucumber is growing. Still lots of blooms but no other cucumbers. I picked the first banana pepper today with one lone pepper remaining and lots of blooms.

We walk around the campus at work and often check on the two gardens planted on the grounds. One has huge cucumbers which should have been picked, lots of smaller cucumbers and tomatoes. The other has tomatoes and baby watermelons. They both have other vegetables planted that have just begun to bear. We work on a fairly large property with lots of green space. I wish we could plant gardens around the property. I think the only issue would be the excess water usage given the budget constraints that we are currently operating under.

Planting a garden is a wonderful experience especially for children. I always let my nieces and nephews help pick the vegetables when they are visiting and they love it. It gives me the opportunity to explain how things grow and how we get our food. When Isaiah stayed the weekend last month we planted tomatoes and flowers. He is always amazed and full of questions so it provided a great opportunity for teaching. Last year he picked tomatoes and this year he'll have the chance to pick a variety of vegetables. If you get the chance try it. You might be amazed yourself.

Sock Frenzy

It's been hot, hot, hot here. That means lots of time spent indoors escaping the heat and enjoying the AC. I've been working on the 3 pairs of socks that I have on the needles.

Sunshine - One sock down 1/3 of the second started.


Elongated Corded Rib - Sensational Knitted Socks for mom. I'm using Regia Bamboo Color. I started this one before the June Cookie A Sock Knit-Along began.


Nebula - Cookie A Sock Innovation Knit-Along June. I'm using the Kona that I dyed Cantaloupe.


I'm not sure if I'll finish this one in time. It requires a lot of work and I may not have the time to devote to it.

I've decided to knit the Triangular Warm Shawl. I spent two days looking for the pattern and it was exactly where I had put it. This pattern is in the September/October 2002 Piecework which is sold out and I was freaking out for a minute because I knew I'd purchased it with the kit. I haven't started yet too busy trying to get some of these socks finished and I've cast on something for mom.


She's been looking for a bolero type sweater. The new Knotions is out and features a cute bolero named the Little Peacock. I had Cotton Classic on hand in cream, she had specified white, but says that this color is okay. I casted on today and will try to finish this by the end of the month. We have a trip in July so I definitely want to be finished by then.


I've been keeping an eye on the garden. The tomatoes and squashes have blooms but no squash or tomatoes thus far. I have peppers growing and today I saw the first little cucumber. It is about an inch long so I have to be sure to water them well. Each year I'm trying to add something different. I love fresh fruit and vegetables and this is the time of year when you can get them at their best. I'm hoping that I have the same bounty that I did last year which gave me plenty of opportunities for sharing.

Odds and Ends

I skeined the last yarns from Monday's dyeing session. I tried the yarn cake method but my cakes were a little too loose and fell apart in the dye bath. I used a Slate Blue dye bath to dye two yarn cakes and two skeins. I'm pleased with the results obtained. Two of the skeins I overdyed, one with red and the other with yellow. The cake dyed with red has shades of red, purple and blue reminding me of berries. The skein dyed with yellow turned various shades of green from deep almost black green to a lighter almost green yellow like the colors found in a deciduous forest. One of the blue cakes wasn't overdyed and reminds me of acid wash jeans.


From left to right: Deciduous Forest, Berrylicious and Acid Wash

I dyed two more skeins of the Kona Superwash Merino a vibrant orange color named Cantaloupe. I'll use this for the Nebula socks. The color isn't shaded as it appears in the picture it is pretty much a solid orange.


The Sunshine socks are coming along well. It didn't take long to develop a rhythm with this pattern. The repeat is very easy to remember and execute. I think the ribbing is too narrow for mom's big calves. I've lengthened the leg by one repeat and will be keeping an eye on the amount of yarn I have left.


And as always at this time of year I leave you with a little beauty from the yard.

C is for Cookie

Yesterday I started my fourth pair of Cookie A socks. The Sunshine pattern from Sock Innovation. I'm using the Trekking Undyed that I dyed Cornflower. This color has called me from when it first came out of the dye pot. I may end up giving these socks to mom as the leg seems a little big on me. She has you increase to 80 stitches when doing the pattern and that may just be a tad too much for me.


The Sock Innovation knit-along is also planning to knit the Nebula. It is a new pattern available on her website. I was planning to use the Dream In Color Smooshy I purchased at Stitches South but it turned out to be a tangled mess. I had undone a knot in the skein thinking it was where it was tied and the trouble began. One large beautiful skein turned into 3 smaller yarn cakes. I was disappointed to say the least.

I've narrowed my shawl selection down to two. Both are Galina Khmeleva designs. The first choice is the Triangular/Warm scarf which I purchased as a kit at the TKGA convention in Atlanta a few years ago. The second choice is Olga's Indiski (Indian) Shawl which is on the cover of the current issue of Piecework. I saw this shawl at Stitches South and purchased the magazine before it was distributed. If I select this pattern I'll use some of the 50/50 Merino Silk I purchased from Skaska at the same time.

I'm still playing around with the dye pot. I tried the yarn cake dyeing technique used by Monica. I wound the cakes too loose and they fell apart in the pot. I also added two skeins that were still in their original form and had some fun results. I've overdyed some of the skeins and am waiting for them to dry.

I went to In the Loop to find yarn for the Nebula socks. I didn't find anything that caught my eye so this evening I am dyeing two 400 yard hanks Canteloupe. The large size of this pattern takes 500 yards! I may have to tone the color down some when I check it in the morning but for now it's looking good. This dyeing thing is getting in my blood. That's all for now, check you later.

From the Dye Pot

Last year I purchased several colors of Pro Chemical One Shot Dyes. Well 26 colors to be exact. I experimented a little last year, but this week I decided to bring the dye pot out again. I had accumulated several skeins of undyed sock yarn for this purpose namely Trekking XXL and some Henry's Attic Kona Superwash from Miss Babs. I was planning on using the Henry's Attic for a guild project but given the tough economic times I wasn't in the mood to be asking for a reimbursement or figuring out a charge for the cost of materials so I dyed 4 of the ten skeins.

I focused on solid/semisolid colors. Each skein was dyed a single color with the exception of the one skein which was an electric Wild Iris. This skein was overdyed by sprinkling the Deep Purple powder directly on the skein.



From left to right the colors are Pine Green, Autumn, Desert Rose, Raspberry, Key Lime and Cornflower using Trekking XXL Undyed. The remaining colors are Teal, Turkey Red, Gold and Wild Iris overdyed with Deep Purple using Henry's Attic Kona Superwash Fingering. The Cornflower blue is deeper than the picture depicts. It's closer to a Royal Blue and Raspberry is a gorgeous deep berry color. Overall I am very pleased with the results and the little color nuances that some of the skeins contain can only be appreciated in person.

I have a tendency to purchase variegated sock yarns and dyed these to add a few solids to the collection. There are several Cookie A patterns that I plan to knit and due to the heavily textured patterns they look best in solids or semisolids.

I'll be exploring this craft more this summer along with picking back up some former hobbies that have languished for a while. It's time to branch out a little once again. I'll still be knitting but in the process I'll take a little time out for something else.

Kai-Mei

I joined a Cookie A knit-along on Ravelry and each month starting with May we have the choice of knitting two patterns. One pattern is from her book Sock Innovation and the other from her individual patterns. This month's choice is Kai-Mei. At first I didn't plan to knit this sock, but as time went on and I saw the beauties knitted by others I gave in.





Specs:
Pattern: Kai-Mei from Sock Innovation by Cookie A
Yarn: StahlScheWolle Socka in Red
Needles: Knit Picks 1.5/2.5 mm 6-inch dpn's
Size: Women's 9.5
Started: May 14, 2009 Finished: May 25, 2009

The pattern is is very basic until you reach the foot then the fun begins. Once I sorted out what was going on with the panel the sock was a breeze to knit. I increased the number of stitches to 72 instead of the 66 given in the pattern. The toes end in an offset slope which worked perfectly for my foot since my toe next to the big to is longer than the big toe. I would knit these again. The pattern is well written and I didn't encounter any errors.

And just to round things out, a little more of the beauty we are experiencing here in South Carolina.