FO: Sign of Four Socks

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Rayna

So, a while back I mentioned that I have this weird habit of getting super obsessed with a pattern and needing to knit it right. now. Anne Hanson’s Sign of Four was another one of those patterns.

Someone posted a finished object shot of a pair of these on a forum I am part of on Ravelry and it was love at first sight. I had planned a pair of Anne’s Long John Socks for my dad, on her recommendation, but as soon as I saw these I was sunk. I had given Dad a pair of Anne’s Waffle Creams in blue for Christmas and he loved them so much, Mom told me each time they got out of the laundry, he had them on again the minute he could get his hands on them. Since he had requested brown socks (OMG, more brown socks!) I cast on. After all…there is really no better compliment, is there?

As I was knitting I was struck by the fact that the texture was definitely more puffy and “popcorn-ish” than the photos, an effect I was less than pleased with, but I soldiered on, figuring that once they were on his feet, it would not matter. It was an easily memorize-able pattern so it made for great travel knitting.

The first sock went off perfectly, so on the needles went the second, and everything went swimmingly…until I picked up my gusset stitches and went to knit the first stitch of the instep. And it was not the right stitch. The entire pattern had somehow gone one stitch off. One of the stitches has to move at the end of the leg, before the heel flap, and I am guessing in retrospect that I somehow managed to move the wrong one. I decided that, since I was on a bit of a deadline because they were coming to visit…I’d keep going. After all, it’s just texture! Plus, I knew I was the only person in the world who would ever notice (ok, maybe Anne herself might see the mistake!). Far as I can tell, no one else noticed.

Pre-blocked socks

Once they were done, I soaked them and rolled them in a towel to squeeze the water out, before laying them out to dry. As I placed them on the windowsill, I noticed something wonderful…the puffier texture I hadn’t loved was gone and the pattern I had loved in the FO shots had emerged. I could not have been more thrilled!

Socks in the park in Lindsay! (Thanks to Shireen for the photo!)

Dad loves these, too…and I will be knitting them again soon. He’ll still get his Long John Socks…those are next!

Pattern: Sign of Four (A Sock For Sherlock) by Anne Hanson

Yarn: SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Espresso

Who Was It Made For? Dad

Were There Changes Made To The Pattern? Only in the sense that I made a slew of mistakes that luckily no one will notice.

Did I Learn Anything New? Yes…that I should check the pattern of the stitches on reserve for the instep before I start knitting the heel flap to make sure the configuration of the remaining stitches is correct.

Anything Else? Not that I recall.

Would I Make Another?: I already have it queued, for me this time, with a second skein of Tough Love Sock in a gorgeous blue green colourway called Deep Cove.

Best Laid Plans

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Rayna

I woke up Saturday morning with goals…several of them, in fact. DH was working 7-3 both Saturday and Sunday, and this meant I had lots of time to do what I wanted, so I made plans.

I had planned to knit my Dad a pair of Anne Hanson’s Sign of Four socks. So determined was I to cast them on, that I started the Rav project. That’s commitment, right there. If I build it, it will cast on, right?

I had also determined that I was going to re-start my spinning, so again, one Ravelry project coming right up!

And third, I had determined that my Reunion Cowl in a stunning red indigodragonfly MCN Lace that I had been working on steadily since Christmas was coming off the needles, by hook or by crook. So I queued up Season 4 of Angel, and settled in, feeling pretty good.

Right.

I once heard an expression: “Man Plans. God Laughs.” Yep…that was my Saturday.

The Reunion Cowl took a lot longer than I expected to finish and cast off. There were a few reasons, the largest of which was that my adorable dog decided she wanted all. the. attention. and needed to go outside an unprecedented 5 times in 8 hours. Now, there are a few things to note here.

1) You can be in the apartment for hours, and never know Kayleigh is there. She sleeps a lot and is generally like a cat in the amount of attention she wants. Nope. All day long she was in my face looking for attention. If I picked up needles…there she was. No way I was knitting on her watch.

If she didn't weight 40+ pounds, the rest of her would have been in my lap!

If she didn’t weigh 40+ pounds, the rest of her would have been in my lap!

2) We live on the 14th floor of an apartment highrise. So this means that there is no “letting her out”. Nope…you have to get dressed, dress her up in her coat, go all the way down stairs etc etc… This is a very time consuming activity.

So much for my nice quiet Saturday. I did manage to get the cowl done by the time DH got home but that pretty much covered it.

Saturday evening, I was determined to get my other two goals accomplished so while catching up on some TV, I cast on Dad’s socks…SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Espresso.

Socks…more brown socks.

I swear there will be a moratorium on brown knitting and 1×1 ribbing the minute these are done. Then when DH turned on a hockey game at 8:30 or so, I hauled out my wheel for the first time in at least six months. I only spun for half an hour, and it was not a good start (I appear to be having issues with underspinning and my yarn keeps falling apart) but it was a start. Hooray for determination!

Sunday, I didn’t anticipate getting a lot done. I was awake half the night with the aforementioned puppy, and slept in a little. I did finish the cuff of Dad’s sock but that was about it. I woke up to an email from Christina over at Lone Maple Studio, with her new pattern attached for test knitting, so I went stash diving for the most cheerful sock yarn I owned. By the end of the evening, I had decided on a discontinued multi from Tanis Fiber Arts in a colourway called Tulip.

I figured when I need a break from the never ending socks of brown, this colourway will be spring-like, with it’s teal, purple and yellow.

So, I did manage to get my goals accomplished, although I am still not entirely sure how. It does, though, go to show that the best laid plans of mice and me often go awry.

It has been pointed out to me….

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Rayna

That I really should pay more attention to my blog. I currently hit it in fits and starts…partly because I get busy and have little time to post, partly because the only computer at home is my husband’s and he’s a student, and partly because I feel like my pics are so bad that I have no right to be putting them anywhere.

It’s been a busy autumn…where by busy I mean that I spent a lot of time knitting. Not sure why I don’t feel like I have the FOs to show for it. I am knitting a lot of socks that I am giving away, which is completely new for me. More on that later. I have completed 12 pairs of socks this year, which upon counting and discovering that, I will admit to being a touch shocked. One of those pairs was a test/sample knit for Kate Atherley, over at Wise Hilda Knits, one of my favourite sock designers. Those need to be their own FO post.

Another thing I have put some time into and have hit the 50% point on is the scarf I mentioned in October. It’s as awesome as I thought it would be and frankly, if I wasn’t trying to finish up a few things before Christmas, it would be done by now.

Zigzag Wanderer in Stillwater

I cannot wait for this to be done!!

This past weekend I spent a huge amount of time either brunching or hanging out in yarn shops. (What? Both are completely valid lifestyle choices.) Lovely visits to Eweknit and The Purple Purl with my friend Shireen netted both Christmas gifts for others and belated birthday gifts for me.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I am looking forward to Christmas in Newfoundland, which we do every second year. We won’t be decorating or anything, as hubby is in his very last set of final exams and I really can’t be bothering him to help me do things right now. As a result, to put me somewhat in the spirit, I have been trying to find a good gingerbread recipe. Last night’s was a spectacular failure (my fault, not the recipe’s!) and a teensy bit too gingery for me, I think. Half a cup of real ginger and no cinnamon or cloves wasn’t really the taste I was after. So my search continues. Got one to share?

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Rayna

A couple of months ago, my amazingly talented friend Shireen, over at The Blue Brick gave me a stunning gift: a multi-stranded bracelet she had crafted from Swarovski crystals, inspired by her trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland, or more specifically Quidi Vidi Lake.

Photo credit: Shireen X. Nadir of The Blue Brick

I fell in love with the piece the moment I saw her blog post about it, but as an ex-pat Newfoundlander, I was beyond touched when she gifted me with such beautiful, tangible reminder of home.

I have been wearing the bracelet with jeans and a brown blazer since I got it…but I felt there was something else needed to tie the outfit together. I remembered a skein of yarn I saw on last year’s TTC Knitalong; it was a skein of Malabrigo Sock in a colourway called “Playa”, that was primarily navy blue and chocolate brown. So I headed downtown this week to see if I could find it.

While hanging out at the Purple Purl on Tuesday, I ran across a braid of SweetGeorgia spinning fibre in a colourway called “Stillwater” that looked like it would fit the bill and asked the ladies there whether they had a skein of fingering weight yarn in the same colourway. Amazingly enough, they had a single skein of Cashluxe Fine (20% cashmere….YUM!) in the exact same colourway, perfect for a pretty scarf.

A perfect match, no?

So, I have the skein and have chosen what I think is an awesome scarf pattern, one that I have been in love with for about a year, and that I don’t think will fight with the variegation of this awesome colourway. Now if only I didn’t have so many other things I need to finish first, because I am just itching to grab a needle and cast on!