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!!!

Still Waiting....

Okay so I am really trying to keep myself busy waiting for a "yea" or "nay" from the sock swap....I've given hair cuts to son and hubby....I've fed the gargoyles....I even worked on my sock yesterday (some concerns here)...but this is really testing my will power not to send off yet ANOTHER plea to be let in.....how UNslytherin of me, if I give in I would suspect the others will really trounse me!

About my sock...

Well I noticed after I put up the photos of it that I was getting some pretty funky pooling of color suddenly. I rechecked my gauge, nope it was still the same....8sts/inch, 9rows/inch....so the color should have been the same. Then it dawned on me that what it could be is the dying sequence had changed....hmmm, why would they do that?

Because that was were/when they expected me to be at the HEEL...instead of the decrease of the calf! So now I had this really nice wide striping going on with a big muck of muddiness...but really that's not my issue with it...it doesn't look the best but I can live with it (so can my daughter for that matter)....by issue is:
what if there isn't enough to finish the foot!!!

I mean think of it....I could be most of the way done with the foot and suddenly run out! That would be disastrous because I only have 2 skeins of this yarn....the last two herrschner's had...and buying a new skein risks mismatching dye lots (even though bernat is usually really good about it, I ain't pushing it). I even thought of using a second yarn for the heel and toe decrease, but then I thought....well if there IS enough yarn I would have a bit left over from each ball and then I have to worry about matching the striping and working in ends on the other sock. yada, yada, yada.

That is the one thing I do NOT like about the Arachne sock calculator....it doesn't give you approximate yardage needed. I don't know why it couldn't....I mean its a simple mathematical equation...

(#of sts needed to complete) X (# of yds needed to make gauge swatch of specific portions)=yds needed

OR

(#of rows) X (yardage in 10 rows)=approximate yardage needed

since the calculator asks you to enter in your gauge anyways, all it would need to know is the international size of the yarn to give the best estimate of yardage (1-5, based on thickness).

I suppose I could figure it out on my own too, but it would be easier if I had one of those cool tools that you just pull the yarn thru and it tell you the yardage you have....that would really be SWEET for something like this.

Just think all I would have to do is make swatches for every size of yarn with all my different needles and then measure it out...viola! Instant yardage chart! But that seems like just too much work for this time of the morning.

Besides, it won't help with the problem I have now....although the number of yardage/sts. would be the best way to handle the decreases and increases....AHHHHGGG! Now that will be stuck in my head and rattling around all day.

But then.....it might be better than obsessing over the Sock Swap!