Journey Cable Socks

Awhile ago, I posted about some test knitting that I was doing. Well, the pattern's finally published so I can blog about it.

Yarn: Indigo Moon dk merino in cornflower; one 225g skein

Needles: 2.5mm dpns

Pattern: Journey Cable Socks by Sivia Harding

My picture doesn't do the socks justice. One sock looks bigger than the other but that's because they didn't block well. I made the larger size and my sock blockers don't have a high enough instep. The heel of the sock kept slipping off the blocker. And I made one boo boo when I knit the first sock. Can you spot it?

The socks that I made are in the picture accompanying the pattern. So you could say that I've been published as well.

I can't tell you how much I like these socks. They weren't hard to make (aside from the whole "testing" aspect) and they look better when you're wearing them because you can really see how the cables move around.

Not much progress on the indigo ripples skirt. I think I've got about 5" of skirt done. I tried to take some pictures but the skirt is curling badly and I don't have my regular photography setup available which means I can't pin it down for pics.

I was assigned my Knitter's Treat Exchange recipient on Sunday. We've exchanged a few emails and I think I know what to get her. Hee hee. Time to do a little shopping. And I've been contacted by my treater as well. She had a ton of questions! I think she's American and possibly from the east coast. She used the term 'you all" in her email (Someone Else: if you're reading this, am I right?)

The jeep is all fixed up. The lawn mower has been forgiven. There should be no more problems since there is now 3 cu yards of topsoil in the spot where the jeep was parked when it got nailed by the rock.

today's score

Lawn mower: 1

Jeep: 0

Hubby: minus $300

still here

It's been a busy week and this weekend is crammed with family events with the exception of today. So I've got a little time to blog and catch up on things.

The hemp swatch came out of the dryer and it feels like butta.

I knit the stockinette on 2.75mm needles and I did the lace bit on 3.5mm needles. I really like the drape of the fabric in the lace section. It doesn't drape as well on the top. I don't want to go to bigger needles for the stockinette because it's a skirt and the fabric should not be see-through. But rather than doing the increases in the lace section, I will switch to bigger needles each time there is an increase row. It'll make the bottom of the skirt a lot swishy-er. I've got a lot of math to do.

The fabric didn't shrink at all so I need to make some adjustment to the pattern and knit to the post-shrink size rather than the pre-shrink size. That's not a big deal.

One concern I had was the ruffled hem. I was worried that the ruffle wouldn't hold up in this kind of yarn so I knit a few hem rows before casting off. As you can see, the ruffle is holding it's shape in the swatch. Yahoo! Cuz I really like the ruffle.

No cat loyalty

Ricky has abandoned us for our house guest. Usually, he sleeps in our bed at night. But ever since Simon's been here, Ricky's sleeping with Simon (with the exception of Tues night cuz Simon forgot to leave his door open a crack). Yesterday, Simon went off to stay with other relatives for the weekend. I was expecting Ricky to join us but he slept on the guest bed by himself. I bet he was hoping Simon would show up. Ricky is such a traitor!

Yarn for Karma

As mentioned in a previous post, I've gone through my yarn and everything that I want to give away is posted on the Good Yarn Karma blog. Go check it out.

Not much knitting lately. My hubby's second cousin (Hi Simon!) is staying with us. He's from Germany but he's been living/working at a wilderness camp in the Rockies for the last 11 months. He's got a month left before he heads back home. Not bad for a teenager!

Yesterday, I took him to the English Bay and Stanley Park so that he could see/smell the Pacific Ocean. He also had his first real taste of Japanese food. Amazingly, he has pretty decent chopstick skills. We also visited SFU as he's interested in getting his post secondary degree outside of Germany. Today, he's off with another relative and they're going to hit some other touristy places (Granville Island, Jericho Beach, Vanier Park).

cashmere jackpot

I've been email chatting with my Wee Tiny Sock swap recipient, Ronnie. She was blogging about her newly finished Hidcote shawl. It's gorgeous and made out of cashmere yarn which is something that costs and arm and a leg over here. But she says it's similar in price to merino in the UK. So I checked out her source - Colourmart in the UK. And I may need to order something from there. Currently on my list is some dk cashmerino in the ocean moon colour. Only $25USD for 150g/570yds and that includes international shipping. Be still my heart...

Another huge sock yarn sale

Oh man, I did not need Little Knits to put more sock yarn on sale.

I'm afraid to flash my stash, because I think I could probably make over 30 pairs of socks with what's in it. And what was I thinking? I barely wear socks from May through September. Plus I don't like tall socks, so I can usually make two pairs for myself out of a normal skein of sock yarn.

At least it looks like legwarmers are coming back in style. Maybe all that sock yarn would make really cool legwarmers!

flashing my stash

Hubby better not be looking...

This is my sock stash:


Top row (l-r): MCY in Blue Ice; Sweetgeorgia in Blue Steel; Regia Cotton Surf col 5411; Online Supersocke 100 Summer in 787; Cherry Tree Hill in Moody Blues; Tofutsies col 730
Middle row (l-r): Indigo Moon in purple, sage, and butterscotch; Schaefer Anne col unknown; Jojoland Quartette col 504; Koigu kpppm semi-solid purple
Bottom row (l-r): Sweetgeorgia superwash in Cassis; Louet Gems in Baby Neptune; Regia 4ply hand dyed by moi; DG Confetti col 09.002; DG Confetti col 9035; Scheepjes Invicta Extra col 1357
MIA: Panda Cotton, Panda Wool, and more Regia Surf (see this post for pics)

Pairs of socks I can knit from my stash: at least 24.

This is my lace & handspun stash:


Top row (l-r): Knit Picks Shadow in Oregon Coast; Knit Picks Shadow in Vineyard; Iona Silk Wool (cobweb!) in burgunday; Sun Bench Fibres mohair boucle; Fiddlesticks Knitting Jaggerspun in Lady Slipper
Middle row (l-r): Filatura Cervinia Imperiale mohair in cols 4120 and 4108 (yarn souvenier from Disneyland); Rowan Kidsilk Haze in col 606; Shepherd's Cottage Wool shetland lace in white
Bottom row (l-r): Mount Lehman Llamas llama/merino handspun in magenta; Long Buckby Farm llama/mohair/silk handspun

This is some of my cotton:


Some of this is dishcloth cotton; some of it for knitwear; there is a lone skein of Super 10 and a lone skein of Euroflax linen. Some of it is cotton/acrylic and some of it is vintage Patons Weekender.

Here is my 'on hand' yarn:

These bins sit beside the family room sofa where I do most of my knitting. There are 5 bins in total. The top 2 hold wips, swatches, bits and bobs, notions, etc. The bottom 3 bins hold yarn for wips, leftovers, and yarn that doesn't have any other home.

Top bin (l-r): leftover Fleece Artist sock yarn and underneath it is some Lion Brand Homespun; Cascade 220 for my Arwen; leftover olive Malabrigo, Panda wool and Panda cotton; vintage Perfina sock yarn in a hideous yellow
Middle bin (l-r): This is all my sock yarn (see sock stash picture above)
Botton bin (l-r): Patons Classic Merino for mittens; some white mohair; Moda Dea Wild! in Denim and Flames for scarves

More yarn in the immediate vicinity of the family room sofa...

l-r: Bernat Matrix; 2 bags of Marks & Kattens Dream; Patons Classic Merino

Here is my afghan yarn:

Clockwise starting from top left: Patons Bohemian in Beatnik Blues; mosaic knitting afghan in black & red Red Heart; Lion Brand Homespun in Barrington; Patons Divine in Soft Earth and Icicle White

Number of afghans I can knit from stash: 5

Going upstairs, I keep most of my sweater/cardigan yarn under the guest bed.

On the left is Bernat Denimstyle in Weathered Rose and Polo. There's also 2 skeins of Wendy cotton chenille. On the right is some crochet cotton but mostly Bernat Handicrafter cotton.

Number of adult garments I can knit from stash: 9

There are a 3 smaller stashes of yarn hidden away. Most of it vintage stuff that I was given or purchased from a garage sale/thrift shop/etc.