Skeining fun

I have bought a swift (and seem to be completely unable to take a good picture of it this morning), and have been winding skeins in preparation for dyeing. From left to right, they are cashmere/silk that I am planning to sell, undyed Trekking, my superwash fingering sock yarn, KnitPicks bare superwash fingering, and some beautiful laceweight pure cashmere that I am also thinking of supplying.  Skeining is so much easier with a swift – although it would be even easier without the constant attention of a very, very interested four year old. 

Hopefully, I will get to do some dyeing today.  I am overloaded with very boring administrative tasks – health insurance claims, income tax forms.  If I manage to get it all done then I’ll be mixing up some fun.  I need to have a completed skein of yarn for the Hong Kong stitch’n'bitch meeting, where I am offering sock yarn as a door prize.

On the baltic sock front – I’ve finished the first sock and am making fairly speedy progress on the second.  The weather is finally cooling here, and I am desperate to finish some of my WIP objects.

So when does the sock fit?

I’ve just about finished the first of Clementine’s Baltic Socks, and really don’t know if I should rip the toe and do it again.  The sock feels firm – and I wouldn’t be concerned if it was stockingette, but will the lace pattern give that much?

I’ve tried (unsuccessfully) to photograph the underside of my foot – but at present there is about a 0.5cm gap between the two needles, and I think that once I kitchener it, it will be too tight.  I would like to actually wear these socks with shoes, so I don’t want them too big. Do I assume some stretch? The yarn is my hand dyed 75% wool 25% nylon.

No children were harmed in the taking of this picture

But you would not have known it from the screaming.  For those people who were in the Mid Levels of Hong Kong at 7.30 this morning, I apologise for the noise.  I finished these socks last month, but haven’t had a chance to blog them because I haven’t been able to take a picture of them.  This morning I was feeling inspired, and the weather is gorgeous, so I thought that I would bribe the girls with stickers if they would put the socks on, sit on the balcony together, and pose for a photo.  Apparently, there were a number of problems with my proposal – putting the socks on and sitting together. 

 

Despite the fact that these socks are worn almost daily in preference to slippers, today trying them on for a photo constituted a hideous imposition.  The socks are not as big as they appear in the photo, but adjusting the fit on the recalcitrants was beyond my abilities this morning. Once the tears were dried, I then asked the girls to sit together.  Big mistake.  In the photo below the older one is actually pushing the younger one’s head. And yes, the older one does actually have smaller feet that the younger one – they are only 17 months apart.

I do keep warning the older one, that it is looking likely that one day the younger one will be bigger than her (I’ve been looking at the feet).

Project Details

Pattern: “A Classic Sock Pattern” in Folk Socks by Nancy Bush in size Child (shoe sizes 8 – 13).  I modified the amount of ribbing, and also did a different toe because I forgot to look at the pattern and went with some fairly dodgy kitchener stitch.  I would really like someone to hold a kitchener stitch class in Hong Kong! 

Needles: 2.5 mm Addi Turbo ciruclars purchased for HKD $25 in Hong Kong (that’s US$3.20) using magic loop.

Yarn: Titan “Super Trekking” in colour 601 (available over the internet here) purchased from Filati in Tallinn, Estonia in June 2007. The colours of the yarn are really bright, and it is relatively soft.  I got both pairs of socks out of two balls, and was very happy that I managed to get two matching pairs! 

Kaffe Knits Again

I’ve been a fan of Kaffe Fassett since Glorious Knitting, and now he has come out with Kaffe Knits Again.Its a beautiful book, and I’m loving looking through it.  Kaffe Fassett is a genius when it comes to design and colours, and I have always been tempted by his tapestry kits, although they probably would not fit in our flat.  I’ve always liked the way in which Kaffe views knitting as part of a spectrum of artistic activities, not just as a hobby. 

Having said that, this won’t be a book for everyone.  It doesn’t purport to teach colourwork, and some of the designs are very flamboyant.  There is no way my huband would wear the vest below (and for that matter, the vest on the girl is not something I would wear.

The cost of knitting each pattern with the recommended yarns would be very high – the man’s vest would cost over US $121 using the recommended yarns.  If I remember correctly, Kaffe was all about using left overs in Glorious Knitting, and also about improvisation, so it might have been useful to include approximate yardages for knitters who wanted to see what colours they had in their stash.

That’s my very minor criticism.  I will be making Caterpillar Stripes for myself, and think that I will dye the yarn that I intend to use. I’m toying with using my sock yarn and doing some maths to have a slightly lighter weight sweater.  As far as I am aware, there isn’t a source of Rowan 4 Ply in Hong Kong, and I wouldn’t want to choose my colours over the internet, and then be disappointed when they arrive.

The best, and for me, the most important part of this book is the inspiration.  I have a tendency to be conservative when it comes to colour (I’m typing wearing a navy shirt with dark denim jeans) and I sometimes find it difficult to visualise colourways when I am dyeing. Kaffe Knits Again will help with that.