flyinmysoup

Pattern: Jaywalker socks, by Grumperina
Needles: addis size 1 (cuff) and 0 (foot); Magic Loop
Yarn:  Lion Brand Magic Stripes in the "Clown Puke" colorway
Start/Finish:  28 dec/ 7 jan
Notes: this pattern rocks.  i love it.  i'll prolly be making more of these bad boys.  i did discover a toe tip:

see how the corner in the green circle has that little bump thing? i found a way around that...notice the lack of said bump in the red circle. when youire ready to graft the toe, before starting, move the outside 4 stitches over their neighbors and off the needles. 
XO.......OX
XO.......OX
X being the outer most stitch, you'd pass it over O and drop it, causing O to become the outer most stitch. then just graft as normal. it works a treat.

this brilliant idea came from one of the girls at the Bo Peep's knit night. we were talking about reading and knitting at the same time and she mentioned wanting a music stand to hold the book with.  there are music stands in my apartment people (cause the fella plays the....TUBA?!?!?!). i ran home to give it a whirl, and it works beautifully.

i am quickly becoming an advocate for knitting while studying. i'm back to classes after a bit of a hiatus, and i've been knitting while reading the class work and what not. it helps me focus so much. i'm honestly a little amazed.

here's my plain old stockinette stitch toe up sock-studying. i traded in the Dale Falk i'd picked up for the failed Norwegian Stockings *sob* for a couple skeins of Dale Baby Ull...mmm. it';s a delicious yarn, i tell you. i';m going to have to pick some more up i can already tell! i so want to love toe-up socks, but i can't find a heel that doesn't drive me mad. this version is a bit better than the short row heel with no heel flap, but i don't know...anyone have a toe up pattern with a heel more like a cuff down version? gah.

my god, i've been studying off my fool little head lately.  i'm determined to NOT fail this semester.  gah.  i've been drinking alarming amounts of coffee (which in it self is alarming as i'm an atleast pot-o-day girl) and i'm almost out of yummy kinds...and down to cheap-o plastic flavored coffee.  it was on clearance 'cause i guess that "Hint of Plastic" wasn't a huge seller. grrr.

recall mentions of a "secret knitting project"?  it is no longer a secret, friends.  first, let me state that while i'm reall pretty good at keeping most secrets, that doesn't include anything about gifts.  i love to give gifts and it's really hard for me to not blurt out "IGOTYOUA_____!!!!!!!"  to make it worse, i like to not wait til the last minute to get gifts for any occasion...HAHAHAHHAHA!!!!  what a freakin' combo.  i digress...so, i've been working on the Manly Sweater from SnB for, oh, ever and the fella had finally given up hope of ever actually receiving said sweater (cause, baby, is this damn thing BORING to knit).  sweetie that i am, i decided to finish up the stupid boring sweater for his birthday, which is the 27th.  i've been secretly knitting on it during the day while he was at work, but, what with studying and what not, it became painfully evident to me last night that, short of causing my wrists permanent damage (not for this sweater) there was no way in sweet Hades that this would be finished in time.  so i caved and told him...that way i can work on it at night while i'm not trying to compose papers about religious diversity in 20th century america.  which rocks.  (ps.  that's the kitchen not the bathroom floor...guin :D )

my Mindless Study Socks (which is what i've decided to call them cause i get to name the "pattern") are almost done!  i am very loving the fit and feel.  and i'm soo proud of the length of the cuff.  normally, i become so obsessed to wear the socks i'm working on that i make tiny shortie cuffs, but look!  see how long it is????  half way to my knee (which isn't all that far from my foot).  these are the most unexcitting, plain socks i've ever made...they aren't the color of clown vomit, or eye searing green or all lacey...but  i freaking adore them.  i'm in love with the Baby Ull, that's it.  (should i be concerned that my legs are almost the exact same color as that wall????)

What?
i should be reading about the rise of Buddhism in America during the 20th century...but i haven't shown off my finished socks yet!  so, without furthur ado, may i present pair 2 of 2006:

Yarn: Baby Ull, 1 1/2 skiens; a charcol grey.
Needles: size 1 Addis...Magic Loop BABY
Start/ Finish: 13 january/ 22 january
Pattern:  none...just a generic toe up sock
Notes:  have i mentioned that i love this yarn?  i want to marry it.  i think i need to buy the yarn store out and make myself complete sets of clothing from Baby Ull.  another note, look at those loooooong cuffs!  i'm so proud.

and because i can't keep my hands still even for half an hour, i cast on for pair #3 for the year.  dig this--i stole the yarn from the fella's tinnie little stash.  it's Lion Brand Magic Stripe again, but it's not the Clown Puke colorway, so i've not a clue what it's called.  these guys have a short row toe, you know, to mix it up a bit.

I've plunked down my $3 for the Mystery Shawl-a-long 3 .  i had fun with the last one and figured "hell, why not?" 

Okay, some non-knitting content.  feel free to bail out if you wish.  you've been warned!
have any of you seen Brokeback Mountain?  i saw this almost 2 weeks ago with a dear friend of mine, and i am still being tortured by it....tortured in the very best way possible.  i read the story sometime before seeing the movie and cried my fool head off about it.  the movie was a fabulous adaptation (actually, the best adaptation that i think i've ever seen).  okay, that's all...i'm still pretty speechless about it.

Um, yeah, i edited this cause i was reading the nice comments everyone had left and i thought to myself
"Self, 4 days seems wrong...didn't it take you longer than 4 days to knit those socks???  it must have, cause that's just crazy talk..."
so, i checked, and i'd misread the 13 as 18....i'm overcome with shame....

i'm trying to keep up on the school work (i take my classes online, so i have to police myself) so that means not so much blogging.  what i lack in quantity i will try to make up for in quality...at least that's the plan.  so, i've been knitting socks like an insane person with six feet to clothe.  right now, i have 4 different pairs on the needles.  they are just so easy and portable, and some of them i can work on while reading for school. these lovelies are from a *free* pattern called Pretty Comfy Socks and i am making them in blazing fuchia Cascade Fixation.  i like the pattern, and i love Fixation, so it's really a win win situation for me.  they are a suprisingly easy knit.  low effort, high impact...gotta love it.

this little beauty is the beginnings of the Gull Wing sock from the book Socks Socks Socks   i'm using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Grey's Corner colorway.  i'm hoping that the pattern is correct and that i will indeed be able to pull off an entire pair of socks with but 1 skien...i've got tiny feet.  cross your fingers.

in other sock news, i think i've decided what pattern i'm going to use for my Sockapalloza pal.  i'm leaning towards Pomatomus from the current knitty.  i feel pressure to make something really sensational cause my pal has been published.  plus, i really love these socks.  i'm not sure what yarn i'm going to use, but i think that i want to dye it myself.  i'm sorta going for a whole aquatic/ oceanic theme and i think i can make yarn to match that.

on completely non knittng news, my writing teacher approved my research paper topic.  i am going to be writing about the use of yoga and spirituality to control depression.  i'm so jazzed.  anyone out in blog land have any thoughts on this subject, i'd love to hear them!

i have three completed socks...3 different completed socks.  as of yet, i'm not worried about SSS...i did all the socks for different reasons and they are knit at different areas in my tiny little apartment, so.... here is the first of the Gull Wing socks.  i decided to work them toe up as opposed to the written toe down instructions cause i wanted to see if i could make a pair out of one skein of Lorna's Laces.  so far so good. they aren't going to be very long, but that's alright by me.  i did "discover" the tubular bind off for 1x1 ribbing, and i l-o-v-e how it looks.  check it out.  i'm just jazz cause this is the first CO that i've found for a toe up sock that doesn't look sorta wonky.  it's all clean and rounded and beautiful.. ahhhhh.

here is the first of the finished BS socks (blue stripe = BS...not as good as clown puke, but it'll do).  if you recall, i started these socks together on 1 Magic Loop needle.  well, i hated it and wanted it to die, so i just switched to one at a time.  the second sock is almost done--just miles and miles 3" of 2x2 ribbing to finish.  i wanted to practice restraint and make them long enough to wear with a pair of boots i own, so this ribbing length is my own damned fault.
and now, the first of the Pretty comfy socks.  and that name is completely accurate.  i love how this guy looks and the Fixation makes it so he hugs my foot in a tender embrace...or something. 

have a good day.

lookie lookie, a complete pair of socks for ME!!!

i loved this pattern so much (and had another single skien of the LL's) so i started these puppies: the FLAMING gull wing socks (the colorway is called Flames or something close).  i did a couple of alterations to the previous pattern cause the socks weren't as snug as i would have liked.  and, i'll definetly be using a different heal...i hate the one that i used on the first pair.  ps.  i, a die hard Magic Loop fan, am absolutly loving using shortie DPN's.  i want to try some even shorter ones (these are 6" pony pearls).

i think that i may be quite addicted to the dyeing of the yarn--i'll have to try selling some soon to support the habit, i think (any inforation on that?)  anywho, two more dye jobs.

here they are.  the blue-y one is what i've decided to use for my sock pals socks, instead of the first one i dyed.  this is way more subtle, but i really like how it turned out.  i used a different yarn than i have been dyeing--it's Wildefoote sock yarn, started out in Camel color.  the other was a light mint green Baby Ull.  By the way, everything that i've been dyeing lately, except for the wildefoote, has been Dale Baby Ull, and i've been using Wilton Dyes for the color. 

hardee har har.  the fella has been off in another state for two weeks now, doing some kind of training for the gaurd.  which means i have been all alone for that time.  usually, that would mean some mad, crazy knitting for me, but i jacked up my wrist early on, screwed up not one, not two, but 3 socks (including the flaming gull wings--which are now, once again, merely balls of yarn), and so felt properly discouraged.  i've also been a homework machine.  anyhow, i have a little progress on my Sockapalooza Pal's socks.  so far, i'm really pleased with how this yarn (especially dyed for her) looks in the Pomatomus pattern.  it's not doing any discernable pattern with the colors, which i was trying to avoid.  i myself don't have any hate for the pooling that sometimes happens with hand painted yarns, but i know that some people do.  better safe than have a disappointed sock pal!

i also decided to resurrect a project that had been sent to the "holy lord i can NOT knit on this damnedable thing anymore" pile---the Lily of the Valley Stole.  really, i want to start a shawl knit in the round (cause i paid good money for the third Mystery Shawl, damnit!) and want the needle i'm using on this bad boy.  i am a little bit over half done with it thus far.  and, since you all haven't heard it in a while, did i mention that i really don't like nupps?  in case you forgot.  can you see the mistake i made in the dimondy part?  i know you can and i decided that i don't care--i just want to be done with this thing.  i know that i'm going to love it a shit-ton when it's done, but right now, it's kinda sucking my will.....

oh, joy of freakin' joys!  i've done it!  the BS sock....are DONE!




Pattern:  just a generic toe up, but i shall call them BS Socks of Soul Sucking Power
Yarn:  Lion Brand Magic Stripes, BS colorway (clown puke is still better)
Start/Finish: 23 january 2006/ 12 March 2006
Notes:  this is my 4th pair of socks for 2006...whOOt!

normally, even when i've grown to detest a pattern as i knit it, when i finally bind off, all that animosity flys away and i am left happy and accomplished feeling.  not this time.  i still want to set these on fire (well, almost).  i'm positive that this will go away after they get their first washing and bloom and soften up.

i am finished with this semester!!  all papers have been reworked and submitted, all make-up work has been turned in.  i think that all of the non-knitting i've been up to may pay off with close to a 4.0 GPA for the semester.  finally, i can get back to knitting!!!!

i sent off my Sockapallooza pal's socks today...they get to go over the ocean.  i really hope that they make it to her! 
here the socks are all finished up and done.  i'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  and for any body that wants to know, you can totally knit the pompatomous socks with the magic loop technique.  whoot!

the sockapallooza socks represented the last thing that i had to knit, so i'm going to be doing some "me" knitting for a while.  i've got the Mamluke socks from Folk Socks in mind.  they are so beautiful. see?  aren't they just gorgeous?  the characters near the toes and heals (not the diamond shapes) spell out Allah, and that's gotten me enamored for some reason (i'm not Muslim, just a generally spiritual gal).  i'm also kicking around Calla from Magknits.  i've got the Svale, i just am sooo sock crazy....

i've finished the first Mamluke Sock!  wow...that was fast.  i think that i must be making up for all the non-knitting i've been doing!  i love how this sock looks...it's a tiny bit big around the ball of my foot but not too bad.  i'm using some Baby Ull in navy and Knitpicks dye your own merino sock yarn.  i loved the color combonation and figured that these socks will be worth having to hand wash.  the heel on these is kind of odd...it doesn't look or feel like an entire heel (it's the stripy part).  i'm really please how quickly this first one went--here's to hoping that Second Sock Syndrome doesn't strike in the completion of the second.  i think that i'm smitten enough with the pattern that it shouldn't be a problem. 

in other, non knitting news, i picked up some georgeous roses at Trader Joe's
tonight.  i've been trying to curb my flower-buying tendancies, but these babies were just to fabulous to pass by. 

i now own eight pairs of handknit socks.  what's a good goal number?  when should i start to worry?  14? 27?  huh...anywho, on to some pictures then!

Pattern:  Mamluke Socks from Folk Socks

oh, and for all you freaky fair isle inside checker outers (there has to be a better way to say that), a picture of my sock's innards. 

so, after finishing up my final paper for this semester, i had absolutly no desire whatsoever to come near a computer for a couple of weeks.  this brief techno-allergy was hell for the blogging but alright for the knitting.  (ps.  i ended up with a 4.0!  my yoga paper got a 95%!!!  whoot!)  First, some sock (suprise, frickin' suprise):

here is my almost finished sock based on the Curusoe pattern from knitty.  i am absolutely in love with how this yarn (hand dyed by moi) looks in the slip stitch pattern. 

and now for some lace (cause apparently i've got a thing for really fine yarn):

this is a Flower Basket Shawl from IK.  i'm making it in the Knitpicks color your own lace weight (i dyed it this strange tan...it's alright).  a good friend of mine will be receiving this as a gift (she's great to give hand made gifts to--she's always sooo appreciative).  i'm tweaking the pattern a bit (i think) by adding on a knitted on border.  i don't really like the border as written, so we'll see.

final pick of the day, the start of my Fir Cone shawl from the Folk Shawl book.  it's not much too look at yet, but the yarn, oh holy mary mother of god, the yarn.  this is Lacey Lamb and it is the softest shit i've ever worked with.  it makes the Knitpicks Merino that i'm working with feel like steel wool.  it's freakin' brilliant.

i've also nearly finished the Lily stole (pics of it would serve almost no purpose so why waste the bandwidth?).  i've got 5 more repeats and the edging then it's done.  it soooooooooo boring now, though!  and it sucks cause it's not utterly mindless, as i have to pay attention to all the damned nupps (I HATE THEM).  gah.  the sooner i get crackin' on it the sooner it'll be OFF my freakin' size 4 bryspuns and i can move on to other lacey things.

i still haven't gathered up the strength to pick the HBDS back up yet. somewhere in the back of my mind, i just know that i'm going to end up having to tink back row upon row of knitting. and at that thought, i die inside just a little bit. i'm resisting the urge in me that wants me to just make a stitch and be done with all the crazy scouring of the pattern, trying to find where i went astray. cause i just know that if i do that, a few rows down the line, the addition will be as glaringly obvious as a bright pink neon sign. (you can't convince me other wise)
so, to keep myself busy (and so i quit thinking about the HBDS) i started the Flow Motion socks Cat Borhdi contributed to the Fall 06 VK. i'm all a-twitter about the shaping used. here is a picture of it: can you see how the stitches flow out from the one yo in the top center of the foot? isn't that great? (it should maybe worry me a bit that i'm so very excited about this, but to paraphrase the Yarn Harlot, i could be this excited about cabbage, right? minus points for recalling how excited i was about purple cauliflower...)

the fella and i took a trip to one of the LYS yesterday, and i found one of the most stunning examples of overpricing that i have ever encountered in my yarn-buying carrer. it seems that the owner has finally gotten some laceweight in (i have been on her for awhile to do this), so at first i was jazzed. then i looked at the price tag: Merino Lace yarn from Skacel for $28.99. i couldn't believe it--more than double the MSRP. now, i know that LYS will often charge a bit more for yarn, but i think that this is just about the most ludicrous example that i've ever seen. so, we hightailed it outta there before she remebered that i'd asked her, on several different occasions, to get in some laceweight!

well, i can mark one of the 15 projects off of the UFO/ FWIP's list. i have completed the pair of Fibonacci sequence socks. wanna see a picture?

these babies were constructed toe-up, using the Magic Loop and size 3.0 mm addis. i knit them out of some leftover Calmer i had about. the stripe pattern, as previously stated, uses a Fibonacci sequence. i used an afterthougt (aka. peasent) heel on 60% of the stitches rather than 50%. i really like the fit of the heel, not to mention the pleasant look of the decreases. the pattern is dead easy, and if anyone shows any interest, i'll make it available.

the Sahara Sweater is in the home stretch, with only one sleeve to go. ahh...look at all the UFO's flying off to FO land here!

'cause then i'd only have to knit one sock. i've been madly casting on socks lately--picking up a copy of More Sensational Knitted Socks has not helped one lick--the book rocks a whole bunch!! i've got four different socks (that i can remember...there may be more hiding around somewhere) OTN. actually, one is finished, but it still needs a mate.

this one is made out of some Artyarns Ultramerino 4 i picked up 40% off at one of the LYS and navy Baby Ull. i'm using a stitch pattern from one of the Sensational Socks books, but other than that, i'm just winging it. much like the next sock:



again, a pattern from one of the Sensational socks books, this time knit with Panda Cotton (the lime color) and more Baby Ull. as you can see, i went sort of batty for the two color stranded socks here. i prefer to wear hand knit socks to work (they just fit better) and i like them to be very cushy since i work retail (on my feat the whole shift). what better way for cushiness and longevity than colorwork? that's was my thinking at the time, anyhow!



most probably recognize the famous Jaywalker sock. i'm working this toe-up--my favorite way to make socks. the yarn is Austermann "Step" and i am totally in LOVE with it. i picked it up on a whim at Stitches & Scones, and i'm so adoring it, i asked 'em to order me in a couple of different colors. whoot!



here is the one finished sock that i've got right now. i started it in december, so, really the progress is astounding...sheesh. this is the most fly by the seat of my pants sock i've ever done. i picked a stitch pattern out of a Barbara Walker treasury and started knitting. i decided to work a shaped arch and a french toe. neither are techniques i've ever done before, and i kept absolutely no notes. i'm not real positive how exactly i'm going to go about making the mate, but i've got a feeling that these won't be so much identical or even fraternal twins...probably more like second cousins once removed.