Designing is hard!

So I mentioned that my local yarn store is having this contest - make a scarf, in any of four categories, out of sock yarn. I've been interested in trying my hand at lace design. I've designed a pair of socks (On the Fly Socks), but the novel thing there was making up a stitch pattern. So this contest opportunity - with its prizes and celebrity judges - seems just the right nudge to get me going.

But I come to find out.... this is hard! And scarves don't even need shaping. I figured that, given my not insignificant experience knitting lace, this should be a breeze. But, uh, it's not. The rules of the contest specify that the pattern must not be published prior to the contest, so you don't get to see photos of the design I finally settled on, but I am going to show you the rejects.

(Washed out with flash - makes it easier to see the pattern.) The bottom design is the first try. But in addition to being fiddly to knit, it's pretty complicated and hard to see in a scarf. I like it a lot, though, and think it's got potential. Just not for this project. The design on top... eh.. not so much. It's simpler than the bottom, but still not hitting any notes.


Attempt number three: Something still not hitting right about this one. Subtle, but to the point where it gets kind of hard to see.


So what did I end up going with? Well... that remains to be seen. I'll post photos, and the pattern, after the contest is over. Early August.

FO: Kiila Socks

My socks are done! These socks have been the bane of my existence. There's a reason I don't like to do cables - it's because they're fiddly. Then compound that with needing to tweak the pattern to accommodate my gauge and my increased stitch count (heaven forbid I actually change needle sizes to accommodate the pattern!) and it's one of the more challenging patterns I've knit. That doesn't mean I don't like them, because I do. And the pattern is lovely; simple but elegant. I just went and made things more difficult than they needed to be.

Pattern: Kiila by Yarnissima. (If you like it and are on Ravelry, grab it quick! It's only a free download until June 8th.)
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in a green color
Needles: KP circs size one
Methods: Magic looped, two at a time.
Notes: I made lots of little tweaks to make it work. I knit at 72 stitches, did the small size on the gusset, and mussed about with the ribbing on the leg to accommodate the 72 stitches. Oh, and I did fewer rounds of ribbing at the cuff for a shorter sock. All in all, the changes made it very challenging, but a lovely sock. If I had to do it again, I’d just suck it up and go to a size 2 needle so I wouldn’t have to deal with the tweaking.




So these are very pretty, but I am so relieved to have them done. My June sock challenge socks will be very simple, I think.

In other news, I've charted out my design for the scarf contest at the LYS. Now to cast on and knit! I hope it looks good and not a mess!

5th of the month project status post: June edition

Old business first!

- Diamonds and Triangles Stole from Victorian Lace Today: Active-ish. It's around, but not top priority.
- Kiila, the mystery sock for May: Active - near the end! Just have about 27 rows of the cuff left to do.
- Amelia cardigan: Sleeping. It's too warm to think about an alpaca/wool sweater.
- Lilac Leaf Shawl: Active-ish. It's around. I'm pretty worried that I'll need to cut out several repeats in the middle and try to block it out longer. We'll see.

New Business!
- Laminaria Shawl: So happy to have this one on the needles. It's still in the first motif, so there's a long way to go.
- Pink granite socks: Plain stockinette socks for easy knitting in pink and grey yarn.

Plotting:
- Nancy Bush socks: The June sock challenge is to design your own or knit a Nancy Bush pattern. I'm thinking Nancy Bush, though I haven't decided what pattern or yarn, precisely. I'll cast on when I finish the Kiila's.
- Sock Yarn Scarf: The local LYS is running a contest for scarf design out of sock yarn and I think I'm going to take the opportunity to try my hand at designing a scarf. I have the yarn and I have some ideas....

Goals:
- Finish Kiila's
- Turn the next corner on the diamonds and triangles shawl
- Cast on for the Nancy Bush socks
- Get the scarf design swatched, written, and started

Cast on frenzy continues!

I have six more or less active projects on the needles right now. That's a lot for me! I usually have a couple going at the same time, and maybe one other one sitting aside waiting for me. Since last we met, I've cast on two more projects: a plain stockinette sock for knitting in movie theaters and Laminaria.

The plain socks are nothing special. This is the yarn's second try at making socks. Previously, I tried doing a Cat Bordhi sock with it and didn't care for how it came out. Plain jane is the way to go here.


And Laminaria. I have had a love affair with this pattern. I adored it as soon as it came out. I even cast on for it in some super splitty two ply lace yarn. That did not work out at all. I've re-cast on for it in Blackberry Ridge silky merino. I had a hank and some change left over from my Shetland Tea Shawl, which should (fingers crossed) be enough for a nice triangular shawl.


The stitch pattern scrunches up pretty easily. Here I've spread it out (the color is also truest in this picture).


So many projects! Who will be finished first? I suspect it will be the May mystery socks which I intend to work on almost exclusively later in the week - to try to finish them before the end of the month.

Fixing problems in lace

The lazy way.

I made a mistake.

On the left. See it? Here, I'll use my awesome MS Paint skillz to make it clear.


I dropped a few stitches off the end of a needle and had some trouble picking them up. Turns out I didn't do such a great job and ended up with a solid area where there was supposed to be yos. So I magicked it and now I have this.


You can still see the error, but it's not nearly so pronounced. I didn't frog it or drop stitches... I sewed it. Yeah. With needle and thread. It ain't pretty, but I think it's fairly effective.


And, in the meantime, I'm making pretty good progress on the stole. Look at it go.

5th of the month project status post: May edition

Old business first!

- Eliina Shawl: Done!
- Simurgh Stole: Done!
- Sondermuster Darmstadt socks: Done!
- Diamonds and Triangles Stole from Victorian Lace Today: Active. I've rounded the first corner, for better or worse.

- Frosted Ferns doily: Frogged! I'm free! Free from the doily!
- Selbu Mittens from Folk Mittens: I have declared this mitten finished. It is not a pair, but merely a sad sorry single mitten. But by declaring it done, I don't have to think about it again!

New Business!

I've had kind of a casting on fit and I now have four projects (including the diamonds and triangles stole from above) in heavy rotation. A row here, a row there, and they grow!
- Kiila, the mystery sock for May: I've got a couple inches on both socks so far. Need to hurry up and get to 5.5" before Friday. Knitting it up in my pretty green Dream in Color Smooshy.
- Amelia cardigan: Knitting it up in black lano d'oro and loving it. I hope I have enough yarn...

- Lilac Leaf Shawl: I just finished the first edge and am into the body repeats. It's a nice pattern, but I had some trouble with the nupps. And I dropped a stitch at one point, leading to the following trouble.

Do you see it there? On the left? I fixed it... kinda. Not by frogging or doing surgery. I made a yo and then sewed the loop down on the back. It's still not perfect, but it's a lot less obvious now. I don't have an after photo yet... maybe another day.

Hopefully the cast on frenzy has passed and I can get on with the knitting.

FO: Sondermuster Darmstadt socks

I'm keeping to my pair of socks per month plan. The most recent pair? Sondermuster Darmstadt. Unfortunately, the pattern is no longer available; the designer generously distributed a limited number of copies for the April Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge and I was lucky enough to get a copy.

The socks are knit in Hand Jive Knit's Nature's Palette in Medium Indigo. The yarn uses natural dyes. Unfortunately, the natural indigo left tracks on my hands as I knit. Not a huge bother, but definitely noticeable.


I knit these socks on 2.5mm needles, two at a time. Doing them two at a time took a little more concentration than usual, because the center motif on the socks are mirrored. In the end, I really like these socks. They're a bit fancier than the patterns I usually choose, but I really love how fanciful the pattern is on the cuffs.



But I will absolutely be giving these socks a serious handwashing before I wear them, lest I end up with blue feet.