socks and burns
1.
Retro Rib socks, designed by Evelyn Clark. Pattern from Winter '04 Interweave Knits. The yarn is GGH Marathon. I used size 1 needles, for a tighter gauge. This is the third time I've knit these socks. I knit a pair on size 2 needles in Dale Baby Ull that are cozy, but a bit loose for my tastes. The second pair was knit in Patons Kroy for A., on size 2 needles, and are perfect for him. I wore these socks all day yesterday, and I think they're the best fitting pair of socks I've knit, yet. All my socks fit, but these are quite snug, and didn't shift around one iota. The yarn is really splitty, and really prone to getting overtwisted as you knit, but I love the final product.
2.
My take on the Jaywalker pattern, in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I grabbed the camera as a beam of sunlight lit the socks up on Saturday. I think the colors are a bit nicer here than in previous photos I've taken of the yarn, but the photo still doesn't do the yarn justice. It's much more saturated in color than the photo shows. Also, for the record, I'm already working on the gusset. And for my own reference, so I can make the second sock close to identical to the first: The leg before the heel flap is exactly 6", I worked the heel flap exactly as the directions said (16 repeats of the two rows), and picked up 19 gusset stitches instead of 16.
I decided to just go ahead and use my size 1 needles for these socks. I think it would have been smart to use a smaller size for the ribbing at the top, but it will be okay. These needles are really getting bendy. I predict that in another 2 pairs of socks, they'll be full fledged half circles. It's a bit crazy. One of them is so bent it's actually getting a bit awkward to knit with it.
3.
I obviously didn't knit my fleece jacket. This photo displays one of the many reasons I prefer to work with natural fibers. If you're a klutz with a wood stove, you can be pretty sure that your clothing won't @#%#^%@ melt if it's made from wool. I'm pretty sure I did this to my precious fleece last week, but didn't notice until this weekend. Stupid plastic clothing.
4. Susan asked me how I like the Elann Peruvian Highland Wool. I meant to write about it this weekend, but it slipped my mind. I really enjoyed knitting with it. It was soft and fluffy, and even though there were a few knots in the skeins I had, overall the quality was pretty nice. I'm not as happy with how it's wearing, though. This doesn't surprise me. I've been wearing my Samus a lot, and it's getting pilly. Most of the pilling is on the undersides of the arms, but there is also some pilling on the front. I knit it at a looser gauge than I would have chosen for this yarn if I were designing my own pattern for it, and I think that probably made a big difference. I have a feeling that it will pill less at a denser gauge, but I haven't tried it out. I don't think I'll use it again for anything major (like a sweater) until I knit a test swatch at a tight gauge, and do a comparison with my Samus gauge swatch, to see how they react to some friction. I also think that the yarn feels a bit softer while knitting it than when it's knit up. It's still fine for a cardigan, but it's certainly not merino.
Retro Rib socks, designed by Evelyn Clark. Pattern from Winter '04 Interweave Knits. The yarn is GGH Marathon. I used size 1 needles, for a tighter gauge. This is the third time I've knit these socks. I knit a pair on size 2 needles in Dale Baby Ull that are cozy, but a bit loose for my tastes. The second pair was knit in Patons Kroy for A., on size 2 needles, and are perfect for him. I wore these socks all day yesterday, and I think they're the best fitting pair of socks I've knit, yet. All my socks fit, but these are quite snug, and didn't shift around one iota. The yarn is really splitty, and really prone to getting overtwisted as you knit, but I love the final product.
2.
My take on the Jaywalker pattern, in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. I grabbed the camera as a beam of sunlight lit the socks up on Saturday. I think the colors are a bit nicer here than in previous photos I've taken of the yarn, but the photo still doesn't do the yarn justice. It's much more saturated in color than the photo shows. Also, for the record, I'm already working on the gusset. And for my own reference, so I can make the second sock close to identical to the first: The leg before the heel flap is exactly 6", I worked the heel flap exactly as the directions said (16 repeats of the two rows), and picked up 19 gusset stitches instead of 16.
I decided to just go ahead and use my size 1 needles for these socks. I think it would have been smart to use a smaller size for the ribbing at the top, but it will be okay. These needles are really getting bendy. I predict that in another 2 pairs of socks, they'll be full fledged half circles. It's a bit crazy. One of them is so bent it's actually getting a bit awkward to knit with it.
3.
I obviously didn't knit my fleece jacket. This photo displays one of the many reasons I prefer to work with natural fibers. If you're a klutz with a wood stove, you can be pretty sure that your clothing won't @#%#^%@ melt if it's made from wool. I'm pretty sure I did this to my precious fleece last week, but didn't notice until this weekend. Stupid plastic clothing.
4. Susan asked me how I like the Elann Peruvian Highland Wool. I meant to write about it this weekend, but it slipped my mind. I really enjoyed knitting with it. It was soft and fluffy, and even though there were a few knots in the skeins I had, overall the quality was pretty nice. I'm not as happy with how it's wearing, though. This doesn't surprise me. I've been wearing my Samus a lot, and it's getting pilly. Most of the pilling is on the undersides of the arms, but there is also some pilling on the front. I knit it at a looser gauge than I would have chosen for this yarn if I were designing my own pattern for it, and I think that probably made a big difference. I have a feeling that it will pill less at a denser gauge, but I haven't tried it out. I don't think I'll use it again for anything major (like a sweater) until I knit a test swatch at a tight gauge, and do a comparison with my Samus gauge swatch, to see how they react to some friction. I also think that the yarn feels a bit softer while knitting it than when it's knit up. It's still fine for a cardigan, but it's certainly not merino.
posted by Rebekkah at 8:55 AM
3 Comments:
I like Highland Wool, too. It's a lot softer than I expected it to be, and it has nice loft. It shows off cables really well, too. I'm not sure about the pilling yet, though I'm generally pretty lenient about it.
And your socks are purdy! All of 'em!
Thank you for answering my question. I will get it for my Aran or try the Peruvian Highland Aran weight, which has all heathered/tweedy colors and it's just slightly thicker gauge.
I've not seen my blog on a link before. Sweet!
Thanks for answering Susan's question.
I'm used Auracania Peruvian wool and it pilled to. I was told knitting tighter would help. (Not much of a consolation because I'm not going to rip up the sweater and I don't like dense knits!)
By the way, I got here by way of your comments at Joe's site. So, maybe his contest will make people discover different blogs! :)
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