October 2015

One Sock Down, Lets Make it a Pair

stargrace October 4, 2015 No Comments

After one week of knitting and pattern reading, I have finished my very first sock. Honestly, there are so many emotions I’m feeling it’s a bit odd. Of course now I need to begin the second sock but I’m hoping that I find it even easier than the first one. Maybe I won’t need to reference the video so many times and I’ll be able to just use my pattern.

It’s incredibly comfortable. So comfortable in fact that I slept with it on last night. That’s right, I slept with a single sock clinging to my foot.

I used size US 3 DPN to knit this sock, along with 50g of Patons Kroy Socks FX yarn, in Cadet colours (I believe). The yarn is a mixture of wool and nylon with just the right amount of stretch.

I thought the hardest part of the sock would be the heel, but that was actually one of the easier parts. There were only two ‘hard’ parts. One was picking up the instep stitches to bring the work back into the round. The second and most difficult part was the toe. I absolutely hated doing the toe. In fact I messed it up big time. That being said, I honestly don’t care, the rest of the foot is lovely. The toe method that was in my pattern was a grafted one, and I ended up dropping a lot of stitches and having to figure out which ones I had dropped so that the whole sock didn’t unravel. I’m thinking of just adjusting the pattern to my own liking when I reach the end of the toe in the future, maybe just plain stitching it up or something. I haven’t decided. One thing I’ve learned and I really enjoy about knitting (and enjoyed it a lot during my sock progress) is that knitting is flexible. For example, have too many stitches or do a left slanting decrease when you meant to do a right? That’s absolutely fine, in the grand scheme of things (like my sock) you won’t even notice these things. I’m sure there are other pieces of knitting where a mistake like that is unforgivable, but in my sock the only person who knows there’s an issue will be me. Especially because no one is going to be looking so closely at these.

Did I mention I’m proud? I know, it’s a bit silly, but I really am. My experience with knitting has been so different over the past few months than it had been years previously. I’m honestly not sure why I find that I am able to pick things up now compared to my previous attempts, but I AM glad that I’ve managed to get somewhere this time. I’ve owned my Craftsy courses on how to knit socks for years now, and as I read the patterns my eyes would glaze over and I’d lose track of what it all meant.

Coming up next on my needles will be the second sock to this pair (of course). I’ve got a few other projects in mind while I’m working on that. I’d like to do a prayer shawl for a friend (these don’t have to be religious, they’re basically shawls knit with good intentions and thoughts along with prayers, and given to a person who is going through a rough time in life) as well as some mittens or gloves. There’s also the second baby blanket I want to do for my other cousin (remember two of them are pregnant) and we’ll see what else. I’m hoping to continue learning new techniques and to improve the more I knit. It has been an amazing journey so far (and incredibly relaxing).

It’s a Sockdate

stargrace October 2, 2015 No Comments

This week I started my very first sock. Socks have been an ‘end game’ goal for me for years now, they were the reason I wanted to learn how to knit at all. I don’t know what I found so appealing about them, something about actually wearing an item you’ve created that doesn’t take a lot of yarn and you could work on it almost anywhere. To the left is my progress so far. First I started with a k2p2 ribbed cuff, then I worked plain for the leg of the sock, then the heel flap was done in a reinforced stitch, I decreased the instep, and now I’m working towards the toes. I’ll stop around the beginning of my baby toe, and then start decreasing again to shape the toes. Then I’ll be using a chimney graph to close the toe up. The heel flap was done using short rows, and it was my most stressful thought before I started doing it, but was actually the least stressful step out of all of them. The most difficult part so far has been when I attempted to bring the heel flap and the rest of the foot back into the round. Making sure I had the proper amount of stitches and then making sure I was decreasing at the appropriate places was a bit of a pain.

Over all, the sock progress has been going very well and I’m really pleased with how I’ve taken to it. It fits well, it’s comfortable, and I am excited to start the second one so I can have a pair. Once I’ve done both socks I have some gloves and mittens I might knit up, or I might try that shawl I’ve been meaning to do, or I might take a break and try some crochet and work on a blanket. Or maybe I’ll take a break from the fiber arts for a bit and do some reading. The wonderful thing is that it’s October now, and fall has landed in full swing already. It’s cold outside, the leaves are falling, and I am in my element. I feel incredibly blessed.

Though harder to see, my heart still has sadness in it. I keep thinking about Nette and how much life she brought to everyone, and it hurts. It hurts that I was supposed to send her some of my knit items and that I never got a chance. That she commented on all of my pieces and was just so very enthusiastic. I know time is supposed to ease the pain but it’s still a very surreal situation. I think part of my motivation to do a good job and learn knitting so quickly has been because of her. I miss her so much.