Crash Course in Comfort Sock by Berroco

This summer I was encouraged to jump on the sock bandwagon and knit my first pair of socks ever. 'Why not', I thought, and proceeded to pick out some yarn.

I had seen a pattern for some pompom socks and thought they would be perfect for my daughter and chose my yarn based on a 12 year old being the recipient. I wanted durability, washability, and (most of all) stretchability for her ever growing feet! Petting and feeling and reading labels really wasn't necessary since I had Lucinda--Mont Tricot's resident sock expert-- there to offer advice. She suggested Berroco Comfort Sock yarn as the best choice to meet my many demands. I grabbed it up and headed home to start my summer knitting project.

2 MONTHS LATER...

As with many great plans, life got in the way and my socks were delayed. I was finally able to cast on and play with Berroco's squishy goodness early in August. I'm not quite finished with the socks yet, but this is what I've discovered so far.

CRASH COURSE IN BERROCO COMFORT SOCK:

• Soooooooo soft-- like I could knit with this forever soft
• Fairly splitty, but not unknittable-- the fibers don't separate on their own, but they don't take that much encouragement from a knitting needle (or a hangnail!)
• Yarn is very forgiving-- uneven stitches are not super obvious, and it frogs/reworks beautifully
• Nice and stretchy!-- but this may be because I'm knitting lace and ribbing
• MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY: center pull yarn end knots up horribly with the rest of the skein as it is being used! I am knitting these socks 2-at-a-time on the same ball of yarn, so I am using both ends of the skein. My biggest regret is that I did not wind the yarn before starting--I have spent as much time untangling yarn blobs pulled out of the center as I have actually knitting the socks. (No, this is not an exageration...)

CONCLUSION:

I really love the feel of this yarn and the look of the fabric! It's one of the best feeling "plain" acrylic yarns that I've come across. I will definately use it again--great possibility for baby and kid friendly items! But I strongly urge everyone to rewind the yarn before using, just to reduce the chance of unwanted headaches! I'm not sure if it will help, but it certainly can't hurt!

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The Sample Knit Saga--Grande Finale!

And it is done! This exquisitely decadent and sensually divine creation is finally finished after two months of blissful torture. Of course, as you may have read, there have been a few hiccups along the way, but overall I would call this a successful project that I have greatly enjoyed!

The last major hurdle to finishing this shawl was probably the greatest challenge along the way. As I mentioned in my most recent post, the Shattered Sun Shawl by Felicia Lo has a selvedge edge that I forgot to remember about 1/4 of the way through, but I didn't notice that I forgot until I was about 9/10 of the way through. I had to experiment to discover the best way to repair this omission before continuing on!

After careful manipulation and re-manipulation of a stockinette swatch, I came to decide that I should leave the edge stitch intact and drop the next two stitches to create a garter stitch column. After I finished the repair I continued on in this fashion as well to keep it from being noticeable. I think the edge works very well now and will lie flat as it should.

After the repair, I was able to continue on with the final stockinette section and finally the edge ruffle. I did shorten this last section considerably, but I added two plain rows to the ruffle. Some very interesting realizations came to me as I watched my little ball of yarn shrinking precariously close to it's end with several rows left to knit... First, a Russian bind-off of almost 700 stitches is actually almost 1400 stitches. And Second, the way a pattern handles increases GREATLY impacts the amount of yarn used if you plan to alter it. This last one is a good one to keep in mind if you (like me) change patterns when you're knitting. Let me explain:

With every knitted shawl pattern-- with the exception of some square or rectangular ones-- increases or decreases are used to shape the structure of the shawl. If coming from the center out as this pattern does, then increases are used. Many lace shawls increase two or four stitches every row to keep a very smooth shape and edge-- think of a triangle getting bigger as it comes gradually to its base. This has been my experience with increases in the past; with gradual increases you can notice how much yardage you are using by watching your yarn ball dwindle. I generally am watching my ball as it's getting smaller to gauge if I have enough to do one more row, etc.

I was super happy when I started this shawl and discovered there were only a handful of increase rows!-- one between each section. This made it soooooo easy to memorize the patterns and knit away contentedly while chasing my son around the yard this summer.

HERE'S WHERE I CREATED MY PROBLEM: every row knit between two increases uses TWICE as much yarn as the section before it. I shortened several sections early on in the shawl (and banked me some yarn), but then I added rows to the final ruffle (which is the most yarn consuming part of the pattern!)

Let's just say LESSON LEARNED. Designers spend a lot of time figuring out these patterns and adjusting them to our many shapes and sizes. The structures and shaping we take for granted (and often complain about) create the foundation for those designs we love so much; they should not be ignored or cast away so lightly. Will I be modifying my patterns again in the future? ABSOLUTELY! But from here on out I will take care to note how a garment is made originally before trying to recreate it.

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HUGE thanks to Lucinda at Mont Tricot in Sutton, Quebec for the fabulous (and fun!) photo shoot! Awesome store, awesome people, and an uncanny knack for getting AMAZING shots!

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Pattern: Fancy Bottle Cozy

The other day I was in need of a super quick knitting project that I could just knit on the fly. I've been dying to make a beer cozy for several years now, so this just seemed like the right time for it! I wasn't thrilled with any of the patterns I'd seen-- not because they are bad or ugly, they just weren't "ME". What resulted is me just improvising a pattern as I went along.

Turned out to be pretty easy to remember, so now I'm sharing the pattern with anyone who might be interested. I created it to fit a typical beer bottle, but the pattern could be easily modified to fit other bottles or cans, depending on your needs (but I think it's the decreasing neck section that makes it soooo sexy!)

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PATTERN:

Long tail cast on 9 stitches. Join to work in the round, place marker.

BOTTOM:
Row 1 - Knit to marker
Row 2 - (k1, yo)* repeat to marker
Row 3 - Knit to marker [18 stitches]
Row 4 - Repeat Row 2
Row 5 - Knit to marker [36 stitches]

BASE SET-UP:
Row 6 - Purl to marker
Row 7 - Purl to marker
Row 8 -Knit to marker
(Repeat Row 8 four more times)

LACE SECTION (Chart below):
Row 9 - (k, yo, k4, sk2p, k4, yo, place marker)* 3 times
Row 10 and all even rows - (p, k to marker)* 3 times

~* YOU SHOULD NOW HAVE 3 MARKERS AND 36 STITCHES *~

Row 11 - (p, k, yo, k3, sk2p, k3, yo, k)* 3 times
Row 13 - (p, k2, yo, k2, sk2p, k2, yo, k2)* 3 times
Row 15 - (p, k3, yo, k, sk2p, k, yo, k3)* 3 times
Row 17 - (p, k4, yo, sk2p, yo, k4)* 3 times
Row 19 - (k, yo, k4, sk2p, k4, yo)* 3 times

WORK ROWS (11-20) 2 times

NECK SECTION:
Row 21 - (p, ssk, k7, k2tog)* 3 times [30 stitches]
Row 22 - (p, k to marker)* 3 times
Row 23 - (p, k, p, k, sk2p, k, p, k)* 3 times [24 stitches]
Row 24 - (p, k to marker)* 3 times
Row 25 - (p, k, p, sk2p, p, k, remove marker[except end of row marker])* 3 times [18 stitches]

Rows (26-end) p1, k1 rib around to desired length. I did 7 rows ribbing before bind off.

Bind off using whatever S-T-R-E-T-C-H-Y bind off method you like best. I followed this tutorial by SlipSlipKnit.com (excellent for use with ribbing.)

~*IMPORTANT TO NOTE!!!*~

I looped my yarn through the first stitch of the bind-off and tied it off before trying the cozy on my bottle--big time rookie mistake! The opening was too tight!!! Luckily I was able to unknot my yarn and redo the finishing. I instead looped my end through the first purl stitch on the row below before tying off, and now the cozy just squeezes on. Next time, I will bind off a little looser.

A couple more photos can be found on my Ravelry Pattern Page if you'd like to see more details. I'd love to see what you do with this super-quick and fun pattern!

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Mini Blog-ette

If I were a really, really, REALLY fast knitter, this is what I'd knit today:

"Luke the Locker Monster" by Julie L. Anderson

Crash Course in #210 Hempton by Hemp for Knitting

For the last month or so I've been working on a super hush-hush, top-secret test knit for Sarah Wilson (a.k.a. The Sexy Knitter).  I can't tell you much, but I can say that the pattern is a really nice and handy Market Tote.  I've been sworn to secrecy about the project-- which turned out really great-- so for now all I can do is talk about the yarn I used and hope it satisfies my dire need to share this fun knit with everyone!

I knew I wanted to create an easy to wash and care for material since (duh!) I plan to use this bag for trips to the store-- groceries and general goods both.  The pattern calls for a sock weight yarn, but I was a bit worried about the durability under repeated strain.  So I snatched up my list of requirements, jumped in the car, and headed to Mont Tricot to scout the shelves for the perfect substitute.

As always, Lucinda was an amazing help and spent at least an hour with me squishing and stretching and comparing yarns.  After much torn contemplation I chose a wonderful rosey-tan color #210 Hempton yarn from Hemp for Knitting.  (You can see all the specific details about this yarn on Ravelry by clicking this link.) This yarn is a cotton/hemp/modal blend with no stretch and incredible strength!  So I made my purchase and skipped happily out the door, anxious to start swatching for my big test-knit adventure.

First thing I did when I got home was break out the knitting needles to cast on.  I worked my over sized square (just for good measure... Hey!  Is knitting swatches where that saying comes from?), quickly soaked it in warm water, and pinned it out to measure my surely perfect gauge. *cough, cough*. Well, first time didn't quite do it.  In fact, second time didn't either-- I ended up changing needle size and diving into the pattern... I know, I know, BAD test-knitter!  But it turned out great and gauge in the project is spot on.  (Besides, we all know that gauge swatches lie.)

Knitting with this yarn has been a very different experience for me.  So here you go... Crash Course in Hemp for Knitting's #210 Hempton:

• Seems like it should be splitty but isn't-- like two strands of lace weight plied together
• Hemp, like cotton, does not forgive uneven stitches-- though this is not as noticeable in a lace pattern
• Very soft with great drape and feel! (That's the modal/rayon talkin')
• Incredibly more elastic than anticipated with larger needles-- I knit this project with US 6 (4mm) needles, and the holes in the fabric allow for great stretch though I doubt it would have much elasticity when knit tightly on smallish needles.
• Requires different handling, it doesn't glide easily like acrylic, silk, merino, or other smooth yarns-- reminds me of harsh cotton in that way
• End of ball gets sloppy, good idea to wind it first-- no fault of the manufacturer, just the drape of this yarn combined with its weight and small ball size makes it very susceptible to start unwinding from the inside also towards the end.  I found the end tangling with the working yarn when I was still many yards from finishing the ball.
• Not many join options-- could not wet splice (not wool), could not Russian join (each of the 2 loose plys is incredibly tightly wound), so I had to settle for knotting.  We won't even talk about weaving in ends-- not my strongest skill to begin with, but I was in absolute fits with this yarn.  I ended up glueing the knots with Fabric glue and snipping the ends.  (Fingers crossed...)

CONCLUSION:

Overall, used for the right project, I absolutely love this yarn!  There are some fiddley things about it, but if you are aware of these they are easy enough to accommodate.  I love this fabric for a durable tote bag, a nice cozy autumn morning wrap, or even a loose fitting drapey sweater.  I don't think it would be a good choice for very structured clothing because of the smooth drape, or for outerwear (hats, mittens, scarves, etc.) since it's relatively heavy and not very warm.  But I absolutely love the stitch definition it gives and the subtle sheen!  I'm happy to say that I have almost one full ball of Hempton left over... Now to find the perfect pattern for it!

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Did I Do That?: The Sample Knit Saga (cont.)

Ok, so here's the deal. You know how most knit patterns are created with a selvedge edge to keep it from rolling under? (For those not "in the know", that's what those last couple of stitches on each row that don't seem to follow the pattern are for.). Well, I've been knitting the gorgeous Shattered Sun Shawl without that. All the way through the lace and last stockinette sections I started thinking it was a bit odd-- that's when I really started realizing the selvedge edge was missing.

I was beginning to think that blocking the shawl would be the solution. I've never seen a pattern make this type of assumption, but I was willing to go on faith. So I decided to push on into the final stockinette ruffle section of the shawl-- time to consult the pattern. An interesting thing happened when I started reading the next step... I actually read it through to the end since it wasn't just another "stockinette section" and saying to myself 'yeah, yeah, it's more stockinette'. You know what I found when I actually read the instructions? You'll never guess! Ok, you probably will--probably already have! I found a selvedge edge.

Scratching my head in confusion-- since patterns don't start a selvedge edge 3/4 of the way through-- I read back through the steps I 'glanced' through the first time. Wouldn't you just know it, there was that pesky little 'knit 2, purl to the last 2 stitches, knit 2' every step of the way. Talk about a palm-slap to the forehead moment... I still can't believe I made such a rookie mistake, being an "Experienced Lace Knitter" and all (see post #3). Trying to figure out where I went wrong has me all befuddled, but I have a theory.

From the very start of this amazingly, luxurious, finger-heavenly project, I've been knitting under the influence of heavy distraction. This mixed with impatient anticipation of such fibery goodness might have led to me take a few teeny shortcuts. I'm fairly certain that I read this part of the instructions at some point early on, and of course made a mental note about it before starting the shawl. And upon further inspection, I can see that I DID include the selvedge edge all the way up to the lace section. But somehow-- between sleep deprivation and toddler demand-- I left this important little nugget of information with other non-essential things such as the square root of 463, and the average birth weight of an African Elephant. And now I have this gorgeous CashSilk Lace shawl 90% finished with no selvedge edge and a bad case of "the rolls". Now to figure out how to fix this.

O.K...Here's the plan. Since the selvedge edge on this shawl is only two stitches on each side, I think I can "repair" the stitches. The second from the end on each side will be very easy to drop all the way down and then pick back up correctly. The edge stitch on each side will be a little more complicated-- not sure if I can "repair" this one or not since each stitch is actually two stitches, one right side and one wrong side. I will have to knit up a swatch and experiment. I think if this won't work, Plan B will be to drop the third stitch from the edge and incorporate this column into the selvedge edge instead-- leaving the edge stitches untouched. I will let you all know how it goes once I figure it out myself. Who knows, maybe there will be a tutorial or two that comes out of this!!! Crossing my fingers all will turn out well...

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As An Experienced Lace Knitter...: The Sample Knitting Saga (cont.)

Not too long ago I was excited to give an aspiring lace knitter advice on how to dive into the wonderful world of lace. I suggested a few of the basics like:

I was happy to encourage another knitter to try this beautiful technique that I enjoy so much! And I was very proud to have enough experience to be a credible mentor. *wry smile*

So let me tell you how the "teacher" has been coming along with her latest lace fiasco project...Now remember, I am an experienced lace knitter, so the rules don't apply to me; I am above the law here.

As many of you know, I've been working on the Shattered Sun Shawl by Felicia Lo. This isn't a really complicated pattern, but I would probably not recommend it as a first lace project. I would consider this a second or third project because of the amount of non-repeating stitches on every row. It's kinda funny really, but I've had a bit of trouble with this myself (even though I AM an experienced lace knitter and I think repeats are boring). I seem to be repairing stitches at the end of every lace row because I forget to stop repeating. But it's no big deal, really, just takes a few extra minutes...on every other row...

Aside from the extra knitting (and un-knitting) that I'm doing all the time, I think I'm really moving along! I remember that it was really exciting when I finished row 4 of the lace section. Of course then there was this crazy thing that happened where the stitch count was all wrong. No big deal for an experienced lace knitter like myself, though. I can usually look at the established pattern to see where it's going wonky and fix it when I come back to the mistake on the next row. See, the thing here is that there actually wasn't an established pattern yet (since it was only row 4) so I couldn't see my error. And I've been doing so much un-knitting recently (at the end of every other row) that I didn't really feel like fixing it THAT way. And the whole life line thing...well, you know, I'm an experienced lace knitter so I never use those anymore. But it's ok, I feel confident enough to rip back two rows and then * hunt for all the pieces of my lace pattern puzzle.

^{*see note above}

Well, ripping back worked pretty well-- I found almost all my stitches. Unfortunately lace knitting isn't horse shoes, and close really doesn't work, so I decided the best thing to do was rip back to my last stockinette row and restart the lace section. I mean, we're really only talking about two more rows here... I can handle that. So I ripped back two more rows, recounted, and finally had the correct number of stitches so I could continue. All in all, this whole crazy "it'll never happen to me" knitting moment wasn't terribly time-expensive-- about 6 days so far.

(Maybe more expensive than I thought...)

So now it's been several days and I've only picked up my knitting twice (mainly because I've been very busy with Everyday Peacocks stuff). I am finally through row 9 of the lace section, though, and have my pattern well established so that I can fix my mistakes as I go along-- ask me how I know that...

All this redoing and ripping has me really questioning why all this has been happening to me. Remember now, I am an experienced lace knitter here, so the rules don't really apply to me. However, I think I figured out what might be causing some of the problems. I'll give you a hint: he's two years old, full of curiosity, and a handfull and a half!

I'm usually following my boy around the yard while I'm knitting, since this is the only knitting time I can seem to find. But I am so experienced that I can keep up with a simple repeating lace pattern while making sure that my kid is staying out of trouble... Of course there was this time that he decided to drink the sand in the sandbox (I dropped my knitting mid-row), or that time he decided to rip one of the flowers we bought out of the planter box (I chased him around for a minute to get it back, but luckily the roots were still intact AND I was able to hang onto my knitting). Come to think of it, he's a real little stinker and loves to push his limits! It's amazing to watch him grow and explore his personality, though. This time with him is so precious to me and I am thankful everyday for seeing life through his eyes. The social interaction with my toddler is a bit distracting for my lace knitting, but I wouldn't trade a second of it for all the CashSilk yarn in the world!

A Crafty Plan: The Sample Knit Saga (cont.)

I'm so glad the weather has changed bringing Southern Quebec warm sunshiny afternoons. I'm NOT as thrilled that this has been seriously cutting into my knitting time. Let me explain...

From the time my youngest son gets up in the morning, till long after dark at night, he wants to be outside-- pitches fits to be outside-- and actually has a daily meltdown at nap time due to the mandatory four walls looming in his near future. I absolutely LOVE his enthusiasm for nature and exercise! I absolutely HATE that all my project bags have ridiculously short straps-- just long enough to let my armpit get a great view of what's inside. For those unaware, this means it's quite difficult to knit while carrying it around. So when the weather is nice, I am chasing around a toddler outside-- who, by the way, doesn't actually want to play with me, I'm just a good audience. Without a project bag to carry with me, I'm losing out on some Super-Primo knitting time!!! With new CashSilk draping seductively from my needles, this just won't do!

I think my solution is quite brilliant really, not to toot my own horn or anything. Ok...maybe brilliant is pushing it a little. We'll go with Inspired. The idea started with me needing a way to carry my yarn bowl around with me--since I don't want to muck up this beautiful yarn. (By the way, the yarn bowl in question is not actually a yarn bowl...another yarny issue I should deal with in the near future.) I needed a big bag, with a wide mouth, and a long strap. You know, a lot like those messenger bag type purses that were in style years ago...like the one that's been hanging in my hall closet for the last five or six years collecting dust.

Talk about a light bulb going off! I think I could've lit up half the state of Texas with that realization! So off I rushed to said bag hanging exactly where I left it so many years ago. Now, for those who don't know me, this by itself is a feat-- things in our house have a particularly irritating way of sprouting legs and walking off. Giddy as a schoolgirl, I snatched up my new-old project bag and rushed off to try it out!

It turns out that I could not have bought a better solution (with the exception of a couple of Velcro strips which will be removed shortly.) I have my wide mouth pouch, which is just deep enough, plus two smaller pouches on the front-- one for my row counts and project notes, the other for my stitch markers and other notions. And to top it all off, there is a large messenger style flap that covers everything when I am not knitting. I think my favorite feature so far is the little side pouch (intended for pencils) where I keep a tiny crochet hook for M1 or dropped stitches. It has been incredibly handy!

So now I say "Bring on the sun... Bring on the sandbox...Bring on the toddler chase! I am armed and ready!" Knitting time has returned. Now,let's see just how long this lace panel is going to take me...

Making Time For Yarn: The Sample Knit Saga

I was super excited when Lucinda asked me if I wanted to knit up a store sample this past weekend. I jumped at the opportunity to play with some new yarn-- for business reasons, of course... She let me pick the pattern from her massive in store library (in both French and English,) and after much deliberation I went with my first inspiration-- the Shattered Sun Shawl designed by Felicia Lo.

I know that no one will believe me, but this pattern coincidentally calls for the exact same yarn that I have been drooling over since the very first time I saw it. I couldn't believe my luck! So now I am the happy knitter of some delicious Sweet Georgia Yarns CashSilk Lace. Such an amazing cashmere silk blend, the fabric actually somehow feels like butter in my hands...

Between my Etsy store and family, I don't have a lot of time to knit these days, but I am now totally motivated to make it a priority. After all, every Peacock needs to have some "ME" time to keep her feathers unruffled and perky. It's time for this birdie to start preening! If you want to follow along with my progress, you can check out my Ravelry project page. And of course, if you just want to catch the highlights, stick around or subscribe to my blog-- I'll keep ya' posted!