Hogwarts Sock Swap 6

Finished both heels -- although I had to veer away from the original pattern to do it ... I have issues doing w&t short-row heels on toe up - don't know what it is, it just happens ... so did basic short row where you skip doing the last st of the row and just pass the last st worked back onto the working needle after the turn ... easy peasy ... then on the gusset you knit the last live st with the first waiting st then M1L.

Interesting stuff. Made a couple of big holes but those were easy enough to pick tighter ...

so photos you might ask?

Hate to spoil the surprise for my partner but I'm kind of proud of the heels ... the colors look much better in person than they do in the photo - this makes it look more orange than in real life, and with the flash it washes it all out.


well I'm a little behind on the socks ... due to trip to MOA yesterday to get son's new glasses & half day gone missing since I had to wait for the railroad spike to remove itself from the top of my head .... much better now.


after the heel turn, I start expanding for the ankle -- while working the pattern st across the front of the foot ... it winds up beginning on row 5 instead of 8 as I thought it would because of the arch expansion ... but as it actually works out well because then when I finish with the expansions and get ready for the legs they will start on the proper row.

I'm glad instinct told me to do what the pattern did not.

At first I was concerned that the heel seemed to be too shallow ... but with the expansion rounds it should work out fine.

The big concern now is - the size ... all I can do is hope they fit since my partner's feet are much smaller than mine so I can't try them on to make sure they will go over the heel ... keeping fingers crossed.

HSS6 UPDATE

Okay - total number of rows for today? 0

yeah that's right ... big goose egg.

I did do 24 rows (that's 3 repeats) and tightened up the gaps between the instep & sole needles where I had to leave some extra slack so there would be enough stretch to go over the heel ....

so what put the breaks on today?

short row heels .... wrap & turns ... both scare me because they are not so easy to "fix" if there is a boo-boo ....

so far I haven't had to use a "life line" but I will have to this time .... I will have to do it tomorrow though ... time to put on those "big girl panties" and jump in ....

This should be easy - but its been so long since I've made socks this way ... at least 2 exchanges ...

the last one I used Cat Bordhi's book and the one before I made a form of tube socks (no heels)

I can do this ... I have to do this ... its a great pattern and I want her to have it ....

then maybe I will make a pair for myself (for the kids to steal and wear out before I get them back, if I know them)

Naughty Day

Daily Goal: 4 pattern repeats = 4(8 row pattern) = 32 rows
Total Rows Knitted Today: 2

Yup that's it ... it started with the football game ... then it was the chili ... then it was the missing Boy Scout forms ... then it was the chili (yep again) .... then it was the knee I twisted by walking on my leg while it was asleep ... then it was cornbread ... then it was hubby's back (ok, this actually started by the football game, but didn't really get time worthy until later) ....

then there was dinner ... and the kids begging me to make blueberry muffins ... and then getting the kids ready to go back to school ... then there was the 1 hr conversation I just got off the phone about Girl Scouts ....

add it all up ....

and a whole, whopping 2 rows were completed today ....

I'm so far behind ... but on the bright side -- I figure I only have 3 repeats on the foot, so that is only 24 rows ... and the kids are gone back to school tomorrow ....

so I should have all day tomorrow to knit ....

right??

Hogwarts Sock Swap 6

I'm up late -- watching "Post Man Always Rings Twice" and getting the first round of pattern stitch done for my partners socks ...

I kind of goofed the toe up ... but I like the pattern that was made :-D

There is some issues with where the pattern jumps from one needle to the next ... I have to keep the pattern loose so it offers enough stretch to get over the heel (tricky part when you don't have the foot handy to try it on) and by keeping it loose I am findng that there is some gapping.

I'm hoping that as I finish the sock I will be able to tighten up the stitches in those areas and 'hide' my little boo boo's.

Dumbledore said he saw himself in the Mirror of Erised with a pair of warm woolen socks .... I hope these socks will be worthy for even him.

HSS6 UPDATE

okay - I have the pattern picked out ... it is just my partners size ... I've looked at it done in all sorts of varigated yarn and it should be the perfect pattern ... my problem now is what color to dye my partners yarn (I know she will probably see that I'm dyeing her yarn, but you never know how things work up until its completed).

two last minute tickets for my hubby and his mother to help arrange his aunt's funeral is going to put a damper on some of my plans -- but I can rethink things to make it all work. The toughest part is the "row marker" ... I have seen so many options online that I'm not sure which way to go.

Normally I tend to make my own stitch markers for my partners ... and I do hope they all have liked them ... but I'm not sure where to start with the row markers.

I've seen the clickers .... I've seen the kind you spin the numbers ... I've seen the kind that look like bracelets where you use the links to count ... and I've seen ones that look like earrings that can double as stitch markers as well (although I'm a bit shy on these ones - I used some this summer and found they tend to fall out as the work is put down).

hmmm, I will have to see what I decide on :-)

The Wizzies

Okay I know many people will disagree with me on these but these are my nominations for the Hogwarts Sock Swap 6 "Wizzie Awards"

Most Conceited? Aunt Petunia
Most Hated? Severus Snape (hated to put this one in but you know its true)
Most Congenial? Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress/Professor
Best Excuse for something? "... over exertion", Miss Pomfrey's reason that Harry couldn't kill McLaggen (who pelted him with a
Best Spell Cast? Wizard Space - used to make the tent bigger inside than outside
Best Death Scene? Dobby (who didn't cry?)
Best Hagrid-Moment? Gwarp in the Forbidden Forest
Best Fight Scene? Troll vs. the Trio (I laughed so hard I had to read the passage 5 times before the kids could understand me)
Most Likely to Spend Time in Azkaban? Pansy Parkinson
Most Disarming Personality? tie - Mrs Figg/Mr. Filch
Most Ignored Character? Astoria Malfoy (nee Greengrass)
Best Love Scene? Hospital Wing, After the Battle of the Tower - Moony/Tonks, Fleur/Bill
Best "Feeling Sorry for Yourself" scene? Draco crying out his problems to Murtle

Scavenger Hunt #1 - HSS6

Not sure I understood the assignment correctly, but I'm willing to give it a go:

1. Inter-twining with a smile

Spinning Competition, what is more intertwined than making yarn?

2. I love Hopscotch
"Hopscotch Rug"

3. Pretzel are best warm
Knitted Pretzel

4. X Marks the spot?

Winter Lace by Lion Brand

5. Can you hold my place in line please!

would love to add these to my wish list

And an extra just because I thought these markers were cute too:

Look - little Starbucks specialty coffees! Aint that cute? imagine meeting the knitting group with these - and no extra calories.

HOT DAMN!

Finally got my partners socks finished ... but I want to give them a bath before they go off to her.
the color is such that I can't tell if it has picked up any dirt or not -- but since I have been doing all sorts of not-clean work since working on them I'm going to assume I may have transferred a trace amount.

I have gotten a hold of some wool wash, so as a treat I think I will use that to clean them in.

Here's hoping my colors don't fade or run.

Photos later ... maybe when they are drying on my blockers. I hope they don't take too long to dry.

Show N Tell

Colored section #1
the orange is the life-line which will be pulled when the socks are done .... I could do it now, but I think I'd rather wait.

This section is done now so I feel its ok if my partner gets a sneak peak.

so I redyed the blue/brown yarn ... which wasn't really brown at all .... well this time I gave it a good cooking in pure strong coffee with just a dash of vinegar to set the color. rinsed it until the water ran clear ... I really like the color, its almost as ark as my daughter's hair.

From Hogwarts Sock Swap 5

The center ball is the original main color and the original brown was about 2 shades darker, but when it worked up it just wasn't enough of a difference and the yarn was lost in the pattern - this will work out much better.

now I just need to redo those stitches I had to pull out to do the redye and then I can book out these socks.

hubby is out of town most of next week -- I suffer from insomnia, especially when he's out of town, so I will have plenty of time to tick them off.

they should look sooooooo cutee!!!!

HOGWARTS SOCK SWAP 5

SIGN UPS ARE NOW HAPPENING for past students of the swap .... if this is you then you should already have the Headmistresses email address.

New Students can begin to sign up next week.

OFFICIAL SITE:
Hogwarts Sock Swap 5: Dumbledore's Army

I hope to see a lot more Slytherin's this term ... we were a rather small group last time, but still managed to pull off winning the House Cup (yes we are still proud) ... of course there was a house that only had 2 members (had to feel a little sorry for them).

C'mon everybody -- lets sign up and have some great Quidditch games this round!!!

Hogwarts sock swap 4

photos of my outgoing package ...





The Toe socks! they were supposed to be opposites on each foot, but when I redid the toes I didn't pay close enough attention so both feet have the same color pattern.

Hogwarts Sock Swap - Incoming!!

Okay I finally got the photos downloaded from my daughter's camera (mine was unavailable) so I thought I would post a photo of the socks my partner sent me:


Sorry its so dark - she has an old camera and if I use the flash it is way too bright and just washes all the color out of the photo (I did try one hoping - but it was just one big white spot).

I don't know what kind of yarn she used but it is sooo soft. She made them loose enough so that my feet aren't being strangled, but not so loose that they slide into my shoe. Do wish the ribbing was a tad tighter, but the tops are very comfy though so I think if it were tighter it would probably make my legs feel throttled.

She also sent me a big knitted book mark that is like a PushMePullYou of socks ... lol ... one half is green the other silver ... she also felted me a bag that looks very much like a cauldron - it is very cute. Sorry no photos - we were on the way to a Brownie Girl Scout event and were in a rush ... and now the daughter wants her camera back.

Owl arrived

got my package from my partner yesterday, but will wait to post big on it when I get the photos downloaded.

Oh my Stars

blesings, blessings, blessings ....

hey its better swearing than S.O.B. - only I don't usually abbr. it.

I haven't moved everything from my summer 'take it's (usually baggies) to their winter spot (usually just a single giant baggie) -- and the little ones had fun on my side of the bed where I tend to park everything because I like to knit in bed ... sorry, tmi.

But the kids also use my side of the bed to put anything they want me to look at - so it has bits of stuff from school .... hubby likes to put mail that he doesn't want to lose on my side as well (usually tucked between my craft boxes) .... and if when the kids want to cuddle they get in on dad's side but scoot out mom's side - don't ask me why ...

any ways, inevitably what ends up happening is my semi-organized area gets bumped/knocked/ or otherwise abused and stuff starts to collect on the floor ... and since I learned a long time ago to pick and chose my battles, esp when it comes to the kids, all I ask is if they knock something down to pick it up.

Well this morning I had to kind of eat my own words....

last night I was working on a special project for my two partners (one for HSS4 and the other for ACX), they are a great idea and they fit both themes so I had to start making two -- no I'm not quite done with the socks yet .... I'm dreading taking out the toe sections ... but I've got at least a couple ideas as to how to fix them - one of which is just to crochet the toe sections..but I'm sliding here aren't I?

So I was working on the specials and I had dropped some stuff while reaching for a different sized crochet hook ... only hint ... well I could have swore I picked it all up ... wouldn't you know it? I missed one baggie that fell --

I found it this morning ... with my foot.

I was in a hurry and heard that sickening crack under my foot ... thought it was my wooden cable needles -- I hate that sound ... its one of the reasons wood needles aren't my favorites ... but I would never turn them away esp the larger ones (hint hint).

Well - there was nothing I could do ... I had lost track of time and had to go outside with the youngest to wait for her bus -- its raining this morning and it is still dark as night out there ... we have coyotes in the area but where she waits at the end of the drive is just outside the dog's collar's range ... I'm sure the dog would endure the shocks to guard the girl but why risk it when I can stand out there and make sure it doesn't happen.

so I checked and sure enough I had knocked down some paper work last night as well that I wasn't aware of and it had covered a baggie which must have gotten knocked down during the football game - I may have done that too without realizing it --

On one hand I'm happy it wasn't my wooden needles that broke ...
on the other hand I'm pretty pissed at myself ... another knit gauge gone -- only this time it was my favorite and practically new KnitPicks one! Snap the corner right off -- right thru the second size 2 hole!

I'm so sad right now. I would love to say 'its a good thing their cheap' .... but I'm not sure I want to put a bunch of money on the card to order a new one (always order min for free shipping :-) ... I've already ordered a bunch of stuff getting readying for late fall/winter.

QVC owns my butt right now ... oh and Herrschners too.

Oh well - will have to complain later ... got too much to finish.

still have to figure out how to do Indiana Jones w/o the leather jacket ... and one Wonder Woman outfit w/o being too 'busty' for the youngest ... and how to keep oldest girl from stealing my new witches hat (it has feathers, veil and purple spider on it ... very cute).

well ... first I get my exchange obligations out of the way - they are due first.
then costumes.
then Yule
then I can deal with credit cards
then I can look into getting a new knit gauge, if I decide I really need one. I mean its still functional ... I just won't be able to use it to size a few needles. I'll probably tape it together for now. wonder if I've got some super glue ....

"See first that the design is wise and just: that ascertained, pursue it resolutely; do not for one repulse forego the purpose that you resolved to effect." William Shakespeare

Okay so I have been working on my partners socks .... I'm about 95% finished. And I have noticed that I have stretched out stitches in a couple of areas -- not really holes just stretched stitch loops that can be easily fixed but at the moment look really nasty.

I think I know exactly what the problem is and I can more than likely avoid it during the last 5% ... but it will mean some stitch tightening and possible duplicate stitching to pull those last bits together - I was planning on doing a bit of dup anyways just to make sure nothing popped of during wear&tear anyways, but it was going to be an extra special thing out of politness rather than necessity.

now I'm getting nervous that my partner won't like her socks.

I've got new photos of when they were about 82% done ... but they show too much of the final design and I'm kind of leary to post because my partner might see them before I get them in the mail.

I keep thinking - 'if I got these, would I like them?' - I always answer yes ... but then I wonder if I'm not just being biased. My girls are going gaa gaa over them ... so that's a good sign. My youngest wants me to make a pair for her in Ravenclaw colors - my Gryffindor daughter (the 16 yr old) wants me to make her a full set of socks, hat, scarf & mitten. right, I'll get right on that -- as soon as you clean your room.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and ask myself why I didn't just revert back to my roots and crochet the last 10% ... I would have been so done by now. Actually I've never crocheted a sock before, it would be interesting.

Decent news

okay I had 12 1/2 wraps at about 12 sts a wrap ... that is 150 stitches.
the other is 24 wraps at 12 sts ... that is 288 stitches

that will be 214 sts at most shy of what I will need for the next part ... but with the extra yarn I was saving for the toes -- I have a feeling I will have more than enough to do what I want. but I've got another 10gr to add on.

Whew!

Crap crap crap!

okay I thought it was bad when I didn't get the stretch in my colorworks portion of my partners socks ... I got some sock blockers that are supposed to be her size so I could test them out and they look like they will be fine.

Only now I am missing my yarn ... yes you read that right -- my yarn has taken a walk.

This summer after we got our partners I put the yarn I was going to use in a box so it wouldn't get dirty or full of dog hair ... or my hair ... I also had in some acrylic yarn which my oldest daughter was going to use for mittens ... everything was supposed to be honky dory.

A week ago I knew where the box was - I took out two skeins of my gold to put aside because I thought I was going to have to slice on as the balls I was using were running out.

Now I'm up to where I had planned a second band of color work -- but dang it -- now my ruby is running out and I'm almost sure that I will not have enough to get thru 14 rows ---

HEY .... I just realized that there's a way to figure this out!

for 7 rows at 52 sts ... I have a total of 364 sts. now I should be able to get a single point needle of the same size as I am using for the socks, wrap the yarn loosley thru (so I don't stretch it) and count how many stitches I can get.

Maybe figure out how many stitches, for the length it would take to go one loop around the hand ... then I just have to wrap the yarn around my hand and get a better estimate. Interesting thing is .... both balls were supposed to have the same amount of yarn, but one side has less than the other.

now the upside is -- I do have ONE, and only one, skein that I had balled up to begin with which I was saving for doing the toes - I wanted dark toes instead of gold so they wouldn't show the dirt or wear quite so quickly ... but I can add half that ball to each sock ... that might get me back to where I need to be to at least finish the toes of the socks.

Right now -- I am very grateful that I decided to learn to do both socks at the same time .... any changes I make will be on both socks and I won't have to worry about if I'm going to have enough for the second sock.

So two days of hunting -- I have just about given up on finding the box in time to finish the socks and still have time to give them a nice hand-washing and blocking.

Well -- off to measure. will let you know!!!

Show-n-Tell

Okay its been a while since I've put up some updates on my socks (which technically the should be done by now - if it weren't for all the interruptions) ... these photos are from last week but you get the general idea.

I've gotten to the point to where a decision had to be made on two things.
1. is the leg long enough
2. to heel or not to heel .... I've decided not to heel because of the final characteristics of these socks would really work best if my partner isn't forced to wear them one particular direction.


So photo A shows the sock slightly above the calf flare, I think its a little too high myself, but the end of it is just above the ankle about where the heel flap would normally get started... hmm.

Yes I have totally played with these photos so my partner won't get too much of an idea of what they will look like ... I'm so mean aren't I?
*
*
photo B is kind of tough to see but it is just below the ankle and sits nicely, I think, at the bottom of the calf flare; it puts the back midway down the heel where normally the heel flap would have gotten a good start by now.

But like I said, I'm not putting a heel on this pair.
*
*

Photo C has the sock lower, about half way between an anklet & calf-sock .... we call these sport socks where I'm at.
The bottom of the sock flares nicely over the instep and I had actually contemplated putting on a flat heel on after seeing how it worked out -- it looks just like the socks in 'New Pathways' that it was a real consideration.

But I had to remind myself about the final look of these socks and how that won't work out for the final effect.

So I have gotten a few more rows done and have a nice idea of what the next section will look like -- wish I could make it bigger but I'm working with a deck of stitches here (52 that is) so it can only use patterns divisible by 1,2,4,13,26, and 52 ... that doesn't leave much wiggle room for patterns.

I know, I know -- if I work in a heel I will have some extra stitches to work with for the pattern ... but that still is going to effect the final product in a what that would force my partner to wear the socks in only one direction.

I am constantly making sure that the stitches will stretch enough to get over the heel/instep without pulling the pattern out of shape too much. I have to be careful though ... I'm carrying the yarn on the inside ... oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that. but it is a worry if I accidentally pull too tight and don't leave enough slack for the sock to stretch enough.

Show-N-Tell: sock update

Okay so as promised here are the Show-N-Tell photos of the progress I made this weekend on my partners socks.

I am a tad concerned that the gold is a bit too orangy ... although the kids like it a lot better than the others I had to choose from which was just too yellow, and they are tougher critics than I am on my projects (they have no problem telling me 'oh that's ugly' or 'it would look better with these colors')
As you can see I got adventurous and decided to do two at a time on circs. Very adventurous taking into account that I hadn't finished the original red socks that I had started on two circs just to get an idea of what it would be like -- and these are going so much better, probably because the needles are metal instead of wood too.

Now I watched the video on "Let's Knit 2Gether" that featured the 2 cable method for making socks and Kat did a great job at explaining it so it finally kicked in. she used two needles with silver tips just different cables (Knit Picks purple, Addi nickel) ... however I rarely look at the cables themselves and I'm one of those 'product loyalty' type people so I got Boye's in two different colors -- pink and green/blue (depending who you ask) ... and then I can tell if I am using the correct needle at the point I make the stitch instead of finding a mistake when pushing the stitches off the needle onto the cable.

Kat doesn't really get into it, but she does mention the Magic Loop method and gives a quick peek as to how to work the stitches without really violating any copyrights.

Now on the HSS4 group we were talking about Stop-Fasts and how to keep yourself from real head aches when you have to rip stitches out ... so here is a shot of the first Stop-fast (aka LifeLine) on my socks.
I placed it where the sock switches from ribbing to plain stockinette stitch, so that if there is an issue I will not have to worry about redoing the ribbing again ... well okay, I did a single row of stockinette so that if I did have to rip bit back I would know which way the stitches were to face.

As you can see I use a yarn that contrasts or is different from the colors I am using so when I finish the sock it will be easier to find for removal.

The important part is to make sure you leave enough extra yarn so that when the time comes to take it out, you can cut it without risking hitting your stitches. In this case I used a bright yellow acrylic so it would really pop.

This method is easier on the cabled needles but I really like the stitches on the needles so that I don't accidentally split the yarn/wool while passing the Stopfast thru. You can find instructions for this all over the web but I will put up my version if anyone shows any interest.

I just hope I will have enough yarn to complete the socks. As you can see I am keeping things extremely simple, at least for now, it won't get fancier until the end. There is so much I want to say about the pattern but I don't want to give away too much yet.

to be continued ....