things may seem a little too familiar, but I promise that I didn't mess with the colors to fake out a new fo. hell, the computer I'm on right now doesn't even have ps installed! (computer problems have been haunting me for the last week or two, hence the silence)

pattern:dragon skin stitch
yarn: woolarina handpaints sock (old yarn base)
needles: 2.5 mm circs (knit picks)
date started: ?
date finished: 10/24/06

I think amanda was either going to kill me or have a heartattack if I didn't post about these since they are for the toasty toes swap. yeah, you didn't know I was in it did ya? (btw, amanda, your e-mailbox is full!).

I partly didn't blog about these because progress was slow and because I think the recipient would have figured me out pretty quickly. I 'happened' to have some purple yarn in my stash that would be perfect for her and this stitch pattern makes for some nice fitting socks, another request she had.

I mailed them off this morning along with some goodies, I just hope they fit and that she doesn't mind handwashing socks! let's just say I didn't think about that part when I casted on. this is woolarina's old yarn base, I saw that now they have superwash sock yarn, which I've had for over a year I think. I love the colors and the way this stitch makes them move around. I have two complaints though, besides being handwash only, one being that the yarn was splitty and the second being that it had a weird feel to it. I'm not sure how else to explain it, other than it left my hands feeling sticky and sweaty. it might have been lanolin or maybe it was soap from the dyeing. not sure here. I gave them a bath in some hot water with soak wash and that seems to have done the trick. the water turned purple but the yarn didn't fade at all.

I must admit that while finishing these up the thought of a "sock break" crossed my mind. I think after I knit mates for the two socks I have on the needles I'll be socked-out for a while (I'm probably lying to you!). I'll be moving back to sweaters pretty soon. those sweaters are going to have to wait till after this weekend, I'll be hanging out with one of my best buds this weekend. there's a rumor a certain hipster will be joining us this saturday or sunday - we'll see if it'll actually happen (that's right, that's a challenge- we already have bets going!).

as an aside (and way more important than my socks):
I received an email from offhand designs letting me know of their wheelchair fundraiser. larisa's (the owner and designer of offhand) niece, kyann, has a form of ms and she needs a new electric chair with a power tilt seat - this will help support her upper body and take pressure off her spine periodically. insurance will only cover a portion of the $12,000 cost but maybe if we all donate a little bit they'll reach their goal (I think it's 2500 and right now they're at $850). to make it even harder to resist (you know you want to help out already!) offhand is giving everyone who donates a clutch, bag, or tote of their choice. so if you wanted to try out one of their beautiful bags anyway, this is a perfect way or maybe you can get some holiday shopping done early. really I just want them to reach their goal as soon/fast as possible, do you guys think we can do it?!

Posted by bitter purl at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)

yarn: blue moon fibers sock candy in kiwi
pattern: dragon skin from barbara walker
needles: 2.5mm addis
date started: 5.16.06
date finished: 7.26.06

remember when I used to finish stuff? maybe this is a glimmer of hope those days will be back...or not.

to combat 'sss' and to get a sock that would fit the way I wanted and not look like crap, I knit the second sock differently than the first. the first sock (the bottom one in the top pic) was a 52 st sock knit toe up and then expanded to 60 st after the short row heel. the second one is cuff down with 60 st (better executed) throughout. I've gotten a few emails on what the sock pattern is, so I charted my version (only even rows are given) here, just remember that every odd row is knit and this is for the 60 st sock. the chart key is here. I really liked this stitch pattern and I think it works well in both directions. apparently I'm not the only one that likes it, I found this shawl inspired by it and, through flickr, another set of socks that uses a version of it as well (buy it! support a blogger!), and joelene's str 52 st version. I guess this means dragon skin is hott.

ps I found this cool chart creator

pps. kids another dragon sock!! pattern!

ETA I noticed that the chart is printed readin from left to right, instead of the usual right to left.

Posted by bitter purl at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (41)

as if we need someone else talking about those knit picks needles, but I was intrigued and decided to try them out. I figured if anything I would have some spare sock needles. I ordered two of their 32" 'classic circulars' in sizes #0 and #1 (2mm and 2.5mm) and so far have only used the 2.5.

four days after I placed my order the package arrived and the swatching commenced. first thoughts, they do look exactly like addis though a lot sharper (the addi is the third needle in the pic), the cable feels plasticy, and where the hell is the needle size printed? would it have cost them that much to print the size, really?

I started with a flat swatch using the sock candy I have and then moved on to starting my second sock. the splitty yarn combined with the movements in the pattern seemed to be the perfect test. that point really does make all those decreases quicker, but at the same time it ends up going through the yarn a lot of the time. eventually I got a handle on this and was ready to say that I loved the needles until I noticed that my sock was dragging on the cable. I noticed it a little when I was doing the flat swatch since I kept passing the work over the cable, but it was even worse while I was using the magic loop. there was some big piece of plastic sticking out of the cable and what looked to be scratches that kept the needle from gliding. instead I had to push and pull to get the needle back to home position. picking at it enough I got the big piece off, but I still had those scratches.

I kept hoping it was some film that somehow ended up on the cable. those are definitely grooves and the yarn keeps getting stuck in them. not only does the cable have weird scratches, but the same spot actually has a permanent bend.

not fun. not fun at all. mind you the plastic goop or whatever was there when I took the needles out of their bag and it only got worse as I tried to work the kink out.

I'll be calling knit picks tomorrow to see if they'll replace this needle, if not then it's going into the trash then. what's funny is that I showed it to my boyfriend hoping he would have a way to fix it. he agreed that it looked like the plastic was stretched and could possibly break, but then looked at me and said 'this wouldn't happen to addis you know!'. what have I done to this man?

eta:

magic loop didn't create the problem, the crack was already there when I took the needles out of their bag.

for jess, a pic of how flexible the cable is...pretty damn flexible if you ask me:

Posted by bitter purl at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)

first off, thanks cara for organizing this whole thing! yesterday was just what I needed, a whole day away from the norm, hanging out with friends and meeting some new fiber addicts. cara has the patience of a saint, first I scared her by not calling and being an hour or so late and then I probably stressed her out by not being able to spin a thing on her wheel. actually, I did spin....it was just overspun as all get out. I had coils on top of coils! it looks so easy, yet my hands and feet weren't cooperating. I wanted to get up and run away but cara kept me there trying. by the end I was feeling ok, thinking that at least I'm trying right? that ended when I saw a little boy spinning like a natural on someone else's wheel. sigh.

most of my day was spent hanging out with marie, whom without I would still be in the middle of chinatown. it was so fun to chat with her about fibers, yarns, and general life stuff...in person. I talk to her almost every day, so it was about time we finally chatted in person! I was in awe of her spinning skills, let's just say the tiniest laceweight on a spindle while talking and walking. she's insane but I love her for it. why wouldn't I when she gifts me with silk/merino, cashmere, and optim wool rovings (the batts on the left are from steph, the pink and brown is alpaca/merino she gifted me and the mini blue one is merino she did up for the spinout)? yes, I know, I'm very lucky...and I need to become a better spinner stat so I don't feel bad ruining all that fiber.

towards the end of the day we headed down to the point, where we met with carrie, I can't believe it took me this long to meet carrie! we've known eachother for a year and you could tell, because after hugging we were talking and knitting as if this were our regular meetup. I love her so much that I even forgave her for working on a crochet project instead of knitting (and it's a gift for her mom so I couldn't say too much). we hung out for a few hours with the nicest, cutests knitters at our table. unfortunately, I didn't catch their names but one of them was knitting a sleeve our ella rae wool and her best friend was knitting lily chin's reversible rib shawl from a vogue knitting book. why am I giving so many details? because I know they read this blog so I'm trying to out them out of lurkdom so I can email them. so say hello won't you?!

I headed back to philly before dinner time and carrie was sweet enough to drive me down to chinatown...so I got to see the car! you know, THE car. what can I say, I still find it funny and weird when things from blogs 'come to life'.

Posted by bitter purl at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

with the gorgeous weather this weekend, the boyfriend and I became one with the land, in the suburban-apartment-dwelling sort of way. I decided to take the opportunity to finally plant the herb garden I've been wanting for a while and dragged him along. I had one during grad school and loved being able to cook with what I grew, what a better time to do it again than during project spectrum's green month. after figuring out what we could fit on our balcony we headed out to one of the gardening places in town.

Continue reading "green" »

Posted by bitter purl at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

sorry for the bad title, but it kinda explains how I feel about that sock yarn I showed you yesterday. you know the one that's harder to find than the holy grail or the city of atlantis. yeah. that one.

I originally started to knit the pomo socks from knitty, without swatching. that was a waste of time, the cuff was way too big on 2.75mm and I got lazy and didn't want to swatch. this yarn goes from being nice to knit with to being a pure pita. can you guess why? that pic on top shows you the FIVE plies this yarn is made up of! can we say splitty!? on top of that each ply is made up of two plies. did I mention this is cotton (96% cotton 4% elite)? I've gotten used to working with the plies, but I can still see the working yarn splitting before I knit it. sour.

I don't know what the suggested needle or gauge is since none is mentioned on the ball band. compared to str lightweight(left) and koigu (far right) it seems to be your standard sock weight, except it doesn't compress nice and tight like wool. (sour) after the first needles failed, I chose to knit with 2.5mm (addi us 1's) and ended up getting 7.25-7.5 spi. the resulting fabric is soft and a little firm, but not annoyingly so. sweet.

I tried to pick a stitch pattern that wouldn't involve too many moves since I've noticed this yarn makes my wrist hurt (sour). I randomly picked the one you see because it's interesting without too many acrobatics, just a few ssk's and m1's. I was surprised to see how even my stitches look, I always hear how unforgiving cotton is. (sweet) the stitches only get ugly when the plies spread in an increase or decrease stitch. I like what I've worked out so far, but I think I'm going to flip the pattern to change the curving. I find myself staring at the sock with the toe as the top d'oh! this is going to be a slow moving project, but something tells me that it's going to be fun.

two more random notes:
so far there's no circular pooling (sweet)
the yarn isn't machine washable (sour)

Posted by bitter purl at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)