Herringbone Socks

The name of this pattern sounds decadent. Herringbone. It is one of those words that makes me feel, with my poet’s heart, like it means more than it is letting on. As if it were a pattern for royalty.

Terri chose the pattern for these stranded colorwork socks from Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie van der Linden and I suggested the colors, a classic gray and spicy pumpkin. The yarn is Knit Picks Stoll and, this being my first time using this yarn, I will judge it based on its performance with this project.

While I have knit a colorwork sweater in the round, I’ve never made socks with more than one color. One concern is a resulting sock with too tight floats. To combat this in advance I decided to try knitting using the needle farthest from myself. This will keep the floats on the outside of the knitting and will be, essentially, like knitting the sock inside out.

I used the slipknot cast-on to create a stretchy beginning row. Although I was doubtful that knots would be stretchy, the resulting edge follows the rib and actually is very stretchy. I had some trouble getting it going until I figured out that keeping tension on the back of the loop helps tremendously. 

A pretty good start for the royally named socks. Now I just have to get past 15 rows of ribbing.

Expanding the Stash

I have been avoiding something for years. Quilting. Not because I'm afraid I won't like it or that I won't be good at it, but because of the stash of fabric I am sure will come with it.

Over my years as a knitter I have enjoyed maintaining a stash of yarn that inspires me to create. I can go there and find wonderful materials which inspire me. This positive outlook on my stash has only come about recently when I realized that my stash is not out of control and that I enjoy having it.

However, this isn’t to say I’m fearless about it. I have been afraid of my stash suddenly growing to proportions beyond my control. As if I would go to a convention, come back with yarn, and have no where to put it. This fear, whether rational as a practice of managing my possessions or irrational as if my stash was suddenly going to gain Harry(from the-panopticon blog)-like sentience, has prevented me from exploring the realms of crafts outside of knitting.

My sister does not have this fear. She consistently is making astounding pieces of art in various crafts as well as taking art classes to further her skills. Her papercut art, for example, is exquisite. This is one of my favorites from her Create 400 (birds) blog.

I aspire to her kind of exploratory nature, of listening to the call that comes from within to create, to make with my hands.

As I have come to curate my yarn stash as an asset I have also become more willing to create another stash pile. One for fabric.

I have admired quilting from a distance for some time, but have avoided actively exploring it. I think a part of me knew if I got too close I would dive in immediately. I have never perused the quilt books that are ever so close to the knitting books on the library shelf, never stared at quilting fabrics, and never perused quilting blogs.

 

But I’ve finally done it. I’m taking a quilting class. By the end of the class, I’ll have made a baby blanket sized quilt. I have explored two quilting fabric stores and enjoyed the same planning process of choosing materials that I also enjoy when planning a knitting project.

 

I’ve only been to two classes so far; yet, I already created a Quilting Pinterest board where I am saving pictures of inspirational quilts and tutorials. I’ve been reading quilting blogs. Searching for fabric on Etsy. I can feel the call of creativity in this new to me craft. And I think I can find some space next to my yarn stash for some fabric.

2012

2012 demonstrated the eclectic nature of my knitting habits.

 Road to Amethyst in six colors of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes
(Patt "Road to Golden" by Lisa Shroyer)

Platinum and Pumpkin in naturally dyed Sincere Sheep Keen
(Patt "Chadwick" by Stephen West)

Kai Mei and Drooping Elm Socks in Cascade Yarns Heritage
(Patt "Kai Mei" by Cookie A) 

"Road to Golden" was a pattern that has been sitting around taunting me to make it. I would hear it calling to me, from my little collection of knitting magazines. It would say things about how I ordered the magazine specifically for that pattern, about how fun it would be to do a large stranded colorwork sweater, and about how pretty all the other Road to Golden sweaters on Ravelry were. So I finally made it.

Speckled Owl in a white/black boucle I brought back from New Zealand

(Patt is Big Snowy Owl by Purl Soho)

Octopus Phone Cozy in Oink Pigments Sock and my own hand dyed purple yarn 

(Patt for Octopus is Demi Octopus by Jennifer Wang) 

Rose in Knit Picks Swish

(Patt is Crocheted Rosettes by Lion Brand)

 

The octopus made an impression on me as a young child staring up at a tank in an aquarium. Although I don't know for sure, it was probably the Monterey Bay Aquarium and it was probably a Giant Octopus.  I marveled at its ability to so easily squeeze through tiny spaces as well as at all those arms! I've been a fan ever since. I use my phone cozy all the time and it brings back these happy memories.

Owl Baby Blanket in Knit Picks Comfy Worsted

(Inspired by Sleepy Owl Blanket by Lori Emmitt)

Elijah the Elephant in Classic Elite Inca Alpaca

(Patt is Elijah by Ysolda Teague)

Baby Socks in Oink Pigments Sock

(Patt is Cozy Little Toes by Judy Kaethler

 My very good friend had a baby and of course I knit a few things for the new arrival. The Knit Picks Comfy worked very well for the blanket. It is super soft and oh so machine washable! 

Little Things

The first friend in my circle of acquaintances is having a baby. It is the time in one's life where you realize that most of the people you know will eventually have progeny. It is a little scary. Well, with some of my friends anyway...

It's a good thing then that this first friend to get pregnant is my best friend. I've known her for over half of my life. I am excited about the baby, already nicknamed Zebulon by the way, but I may be slightly more excited about knitting stuff for the baby. Little things! Oh the cuteness!

For my first project I chose this darling little sock pattern called Cozy Little Toes by Judy Kaethler. Judy did all the math to resize a normal sock pattern for baby feet so you don't have to. Yay! I can cheat and not have to think.

That was the plan, anyway. Grab an odd ball of sock yarn, needles, and knit away. And then I screwed it up. A pretty moment, as the Knitmore Girls would say. And then I screwed up again. These socks were an exercise in how well I could screw up little socks.

Screw up count:

1. Rib pattern on instep not centered = asymmetrical gussets. In other words, the right and left sides of the sock look different.
2. After knitting the 12 rounds plain rounds for the foot of the sock and knitting the toe, I set them down and looked at them from far away. Too long. They would be good for elven children with freakishly long feet, but not normal baby feet. Was my gauge off? Ripped out the toe and took out 3 rows from the foot of the sock.
3. Toe decreases on one sock are one stitch off = kitchener toe is a little funny looking.

How much do all of these little things matter though? Not much. The baby will surely never know. No one will really know, and any knitter who stares at the socks and dares to comment will get a baby sock on their nose before they can sneeze another word out.

 
It is really hard for me to let these little things go, to accept imperfection. But I must. The socks are actually quite beautiful. I look forward to making more Little Things, for the little one, with little mistakes that show my humanity and are a demonstration of unbounded love.

5 Reasons Knitting Socks is Awesome

1) When salespeople at sports stores try to upsell socks to me, my response is one they haven't heard.

I do not like advertising. It is one of the main reasons I do not watch TV and I even get annoyed at the short commercials on Hulu. Once I learned in high school all the tricks advertisers use to get people to buy things I just had it. I stopped watching. And the things they target towards children? Ugh. Much of it is truly awful. But that's what a free market economy is right? Telling children that only TV truly knows their favorite characters and stories. Encourage them to think of their own stories? Not advertising that's for sure.

Salespeople are just doing their job, but I still love to turn down upselling when I feel it is for something totally pointless, like socks.

What I say goes something like this, "No thank you, I make my own socks." So far the response has always been silence because that is something for which their salesperson brain was not prepared.

What I am really thinking is this, "No, I do not need your mass produced hem at the toe uncomfortable tubes that you call socks. I can make socks however I want them and in whatever fiber I need them, thankyouverymuch. I can't, however, make my own shoes, so I'd like to shop for those now and unless you have some piece of riveting advice for that activity I will be fine on my own until I need a different size."


2) THE PRETTY, IT IS MINE!!!

Sock yarn is so pretty. People who dye sock yarn are geniuses. Or genies.

3) Sock WIPs are better purse protectors than other options

Other options being a crowbar, a brick, or a mace. These are all way heavy and double pointed needles are a much lighter option. I'm knitting on two circulars now, but they are still pretty pointy.

I actually read a story on a Ravelry thread about how someone's sock knitting protected her purse on public transit in real life. She felt her bag jostle on a crowded bus and then heard someone say, "Oww!" because her socks needles had struck their mark.

Just remember, put the knitting on the top. You won't poke yourself though, because you know better right?

4) Turning a heel makes you feel smart, even though you know you just did what the directions told you to do

I don't value my knitting skills as much as I should. This has gotten better as I have stolen Barney Stinson's phrase from How I Met Your Mother and continually repeat, in earshot of others, "It's because I'm awesome!" Still, I have a tendency to undervalue my knitting.

Turning a heel though? Hell yes I did that. AND I AM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!

Something about turning a heel makes you feel smart. Definite awesome material right there.

5) Get your history geek on

I am a really big geek. I love science, nerdy things, band music, Harry Potter, and video games. I have seen the first season of the first ever Star Trek, so I am geek certified.

Knitting socks is a continuation of all things geeky in my life because I love the history of socks. People have been knitting socks for HUNDREDS of years. I am knitting virtually the same heel flap and gusset people knit hundreds of years ago. HOW COOL IS THAT? That's why it's geeky people. Get some geek cred and knit a pair of socks. You know, 'cause it's awesome.

2011 Knitting

I love the new year. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on what I accomplished in the previous year and what I can look forward to in the year to come. 2011 was a big one for me. I graduated with two degrees, one in Geography and another in Music Education. I gave an hour long recital of clarinet music. I completed a life goal to go camping at Joshua Tree during Spring to see the desert flowers. I traveled to Hong Kong(!) and enjoyed experiencing such an interesting place. 

I also started my credential program in music and tried my hand at working full-time and going to school full time. Although I soldiered through it, many of the things in my life that I enjoy, such as knitting and writing in this blog, became neglected. So I won't be doing that again. I quit my full-time job last week and am looking forward to my first job as a woodwind coach at a middle school. In the past month, since my semester ended, I have been knitting copious amounts. There is a constant pile of yarn on the couch. I think I missed it. I'm even doing some designing. What a process! What a joy! 

Here is what I knit in 2011.

Knotty gloves with cable pattern sized down a bit.

Two pairs of socks by Cookie A:

 

Devon in two different yarns.

Pomatomus in yarn from my never-ending stash of Jojoland Melody.

Swiffer cover, also stash yarn.

 Laminaria, a shawl from Knitty in Zephyr Laceweight.

Two of Stephen West's asymmetrically designed shawl Chadwick:

In naturally dyed yarn by Sincere Sheep.

In Manos de Uruguay Serena and Baruffa Bollicina cashmere.

A pattern called Hege from the book Hat Heads. 

Knit in KnitPicks Swish I picked up at a swap meet.

An archery finger-guard of my own design.

Quite the year, wasn't it?

Materials

These are all yarns I am not using but I could have chosen to use for my current project.

That's an overstatement really because I am knitting a sock from one of the balls and the two sumptuous orange balls are completely the wrong weight. Oh and the lime green wouldn't work either. But the six balls of other sock yarn could have been chosen. They were all in my stash before they were selected to add to the decor of my living room in a vintage bottle crate.

And I am really very glad that they were all wrong for the project I was planning and that I had to go to the yarn store (woe is me) and buy new yarn (double woe).

I went to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company with two problems. One was a pair of Addi Turbo Needles with the varnish coming off despite only having knit one shawl on them. I understand tarnishing, but they were turning my hand green which is unacceptable.

My second problem was the second yarn for a Chadwick, a pattern by the excellent up and coming designer Stephen West. The previous week I had bought the first color at the same store, a navy blue jeans kettle dyed alpaca/cotton confection from Manos named Serena. I thought I had a grey in my stash that would match, but it was the wrong weight. So there I was, in the store, trying to find the perfect grey.

I do not ask questions at yarn stores. This is partly because I don't like asking questions to strangers (who does?) and partly because I rarely feel welcome at them. I just browse, pick, pay, and leave.

This time, however, the store had a sample knitted in a yarn I liked but no balls of that color out, so I had to talk to someone and see if they had any. I am very glad that I talked to someone and I am very glad they didn't have any of that first yarn I was looking at. At 100% silk it was the wrong weight and much to shiny, really, for the person I am making the shawl for.

I don't actually remember if she asked if I was looking for something in particular or if I told her what I was looking for, but I managed to ask if they had a grey yarn in a weight to match my soft jeans colored Serena. The woman walked over to one of the deep corners of the store, pulled out a plastic container I would never have found, reached in, and plucked out a small ball of the perfect grey. At 65% cashmere and 35% silk the Trendsetter Bollicina was perfect. Mostly because I only needed one ball so I could afford it.

Lesson learned Universe, ask questions of your yarn shop staff. They know they're yarn.

I am nearly finished with the shawl. I absolutely love work on it. The contrast between the two yarns feels so delightful on my hands. I don't like working with cotton, but it does not bother my hands so much blended with the alpaca. The shawl is knit using intarsia technique (brilliant pattern) and in the same row I then switch to the Bollicina and I feel like I am knitting with a cloud or with butter, a butter cloud.

The other yarns in my stash are lovely, and one day I will use them. But this foray into quality materials has demonstrated to me how much the materials make the experience of knitting, and they have helped me to become obsessed with my knitting all over again. 

I would show you a picture of it's loveliness now, but it is a gift whose recipient may or may not stumble upon this before the gift giving happens. Pictures next time for sure.

Vexations

I write to you while listening to a performance of Vexations, a piece by the avante-garde French composer Eric Satie. Known for his music jokes and disdain for the "established" musical ways of doing things, scholars are unsure if Vexations was ever actually meant to be performed. The piece was not published during his lifetime, but was found by the American composer John Cage among Satie's papers.

Set outside tonal harmony, the theme is based largely on repeating various tritones. The music consists of a theme, variation 1, and variation 2 which are to be repeated 840 times; a feat which generally takes over 12 hours to perform. The piece never having been published and the fact that it takes so long to perform has led some to wonder if Satie wrote the piece as a joke.

No instrumentation is given and, given the length, it is common for performers to switch off. There is a slight pause at the end of the theme and the end of each variation, which makes the switch possible.  I have heard a flute choir, string quartet, and a vibe arrangement today.

I performed my half hour slot with another clarinetist and a guitar. Performing the piece was trance like, a kind of outer body experience, and the half hour slot flew by. Looking back now, it might have been nice to have a longer time period to perform.

Over time the melody starts to become oddly familiar. I can hear if a performer makes a wrong note even though the theme is so difficult to listen to on its own.  It is an entirely different musical experience from what I normally perform or listen to.

Of course, I brought my knitting. It seemed like the perfect activity to do while listening to the repetitive nature of the piece. After I finish this post I will pick up my sock knitting. I'm using the vintage dark blue yarn that I wrote about a few posts ago to make a river inspired pattern. Oh, I finished a pair of socks! It's my first finished pair in quite some time. Don't they look like mermaid scales? Lurvly.

They are Pomatomus by Cookie A. She is a genius, in case you didn't know that already.

These were the first pair that I knit on my new size 2 Lantern Moon sock needles. I'm really enjoying working with those needles. They feel like butter. Sometimes I worry they are going to melt while I'm using them.

Knitting to music is one of my favorite things. I particularly enjoy listening to the soundtrack to Lost in Translation for some reason. Luckily for me my homework often consists of listening to music, so I can knit while doing homework!

If you have the opportunity to hear a performance of Vexations you should go! It's so different, and performances don't happen too often. If you go, make sure to smile a little, knowing that Satie probably meant for at least part of it to be silly.