What I did Saturday

Ballunar Fest at Johnson Space Center!!!!!

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

Dyelots are Deceiving

I’ve finished the back of my Auburn Camp Shirt! I still had yarn to spare from my first skein of Malabrigo Lace, so I used it to cast on for the right front. I was about halfway through the front when I needed to tie on another ball of yarn. I had two more skeins waiting to be called in, all the same dyelot, all purchased at the same time.

I picked it up and knitted on for two days before I looked down and noticed a clear line where the new yarn started. It’s as if the saturation reversed from below where it was dark with light highlights to being light with dark highlights. It’s not apparent in all lighting, but pretty obvious in full sun and quite stark when you know where to look.

So, now I’m going to rip this out and cast on with the new yarn. I’ll leave the bottom half in tact and frog it for a sleeve or something. This is the last project I want to rip out! Progress has been so slow because of the tiny gauge. Thankfully, though, the front worked up in less than a week because of the fewer stitches. I think this will be done by the end of the year. I hope.

Meanwhile, I was finally able to give my star blanket to its intended recipient! Here are some pictures of the finished project, the first thing I’ve crocheted in years (other than some granny squares)! I had photos of it blocking, but my camera corrupted all of those pix. 😦

Caught in the Knet

IMG_5299

Originally uploaded by knitandwit

I finished the latest sock kit in under a week! I loved this knit from start to finish. Cat Bordhi is a genius. My only complaint is with the toe. She has you bind off as you may with a hat, decreasing evenly around the foot down to six stitches and then running yarn through the live stitches. It doesn’t seem to be as good a fit as most other toes, but the heel is sheer genius! It fits perfectly. The “knetted” pattern she came up with involves yarn forwards and slipped stitches that break up any color pooling that could happen. I think these socks are great!

A Disaster From the Beginning

I hated this pattern before I even began knitting it. In the pictures from the pattern, they look ill-fitting. I’ve learned in my knitting experience that if a pattern doesn’t fit the model well, then you should probably just discount that pattern all together. If they can’t make it work well enough for the official photoshoot, then we’re all doomed.

But, this was the July Rockin’ Sock Club shipment, and I promised myself I’d knit them all, so I trudged on ahead. The first problem I had was with the reverse stockinette bands on the top and bottom of the cuff. First of all, I think they look dumb. Second, the pattern calls for you to use a smaller needle for those bands. When I got through the first cuff, I tried to slip them over my heel, and no luck. The bands were just far too tight. I had to rip it all out and start over. I didn’t change needle sizes on these.

The yarn pooled horribly. I hate when one color sticks together so much, like the yellow does in these. The yarn looks beautiful in the skein, and I think the colors are gorgeous. The socks, however, look like clown puke to me.

The 1×1 ribbing on the foot was unimaginative and boring. I really expect a little more from my sock club.

Finally, the pattern tells you to begin the toe decrease with 2″ left (for my size) and that was totally wrong. I finished my first sock to find it fit, but was just tight enough to be annoying. As I just decided to rip out the toes of an earlier pair of socks because of this problem, it really irritated me. I knit the second sock up to an inch to go and it worked out better. I had to rip out the first sock to match.

To make matters worse, I was so ready to be done with the second sock that I kept rushing and misreading/ignoring the pattern. I ended up with too few heel stitches and had to rip; decreased the gusset incorrectly and had too few instep stitches and had to rip; etc. I hated these socks from the beginning.

This is the most negative I’ve ever felt or written about my knitting. I really would not have ever knit these if it weren’t for the club. I would’ve bought the yarn and passed on the pattern.

That being said, September’s shipment arrived last week and while not my favorite, I think it’s pretty. I can’t wait to start!