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General socky goodness
Apr. 8th, 2004 11:08 amSo a few days ago I finished Brendan's Rainbow Very UnSad Socks. I hadn't posted anything about it because I'd hoped to have pictures up, and haven't had the chance to have him pose in them for me. Hopefully tonight. I've been BUSY.
Various things. Brendan having asthma flareups. Church potlucks. Family busyness.
Anyway, those socks are done. And I promptly dove into ANOTHER pair of socks. These are for a Knitalong, which I'd never done before. There's apparently 200-some of us working on them now. The pattern is the Broadripple socks by Rob Matyska, published in the Knitty online magazine. They're even doing a raffle of prizes for those of us who get socks done by May 30th.
One of the ladies that organized the Knitalong list had a contest on her blog, Zeneedle, to identify a historical embroiderer, with two prizes of a pair of balls each of the Cascade Fixation yarn that the designer used for the socks. I was one of the people to identify her, and I just got an email that my name was pulled from the hat. Yay! I had asked for the denim/white yarn, so they'll mail that out to me. Huzzah.
Mind you, I've already started my broadripple socks with some blue and white variegated Opal yarn that I had around. Since the pattern was designed for sport weight, changes had to be made to use regular sock weight. The designer used a 56 stitch cast on for the sport weight, with 4 ripples around the sock, and advised a 72 stitch cast on for sock weight, with wider ripples. Now, this is for a "women's medium". That phrase is the bane of my existence. I am a woman's large - size 10 shoe, and it's the width that's a problem. (Custom made socks, for length, you just keep going until they're long enough.) After 3 babies, my feet are a bit wider, too. So whereas most women's medium sockweight yarn patterns are a cast on of about 64 stitches, I *start* with 72. This pattern needs more, because it's not ribbed at all. So I went back to the original pattern and used 6 ripples around, so my cast on is 84. Largest cast on for a sock I've ever done. I think they're going to be nice. I'll try to get a picture up soon - we have to do "in progress" pictures to count for the Knitalong.
Anyway, I can go back and do another pair of broadripple socks with the Cascade Fixation yarn. Of course, that means I have to redesign the SPORT weight pattern to fit a woman's large... I'm thinking on that already.
I think it's fascinating that we have over 200 people on this list already. I feel like something out of Alice's Restaurant:
And can you imagine fifty people a day? I said FIFTY people a day . . . walkin' in, casting on a pair of Broadripple socks, and walkin' out? Friends, they may think it's a MOVEMENT, and that's what it is: The Broadripple Socks Anti-ColdFeet Movement . . . and all you gotta do to join is to cast on your needles the next time they come around the row!
Various things. Brendan having asthma flareups. Church potlucks. Family busyness.
Anyway, those socks are done. And I promptly dove into ANOTHER pair of socks. These are for a Knitalong, which I'd never done before. There's apparently 200-some of us working on them now. The pattern is the Broadripple socks by Rob Matyska, published in the Knitty online magazine. They're even doing a raffle of prizes for those of us who get socks done by May 30th.
One of the ladies that organized the Knitalong list had a contest on her blog, Zeneedle, to identify a historical embroiderer, with two prizes of a pair of balls each of the Cascade Fixation yarn that the designer used for the socks. I was one of the people to identify her, and I just got an email that my name was pulled from the hat. Yay! I had asked for the denim/white yarn, so they'll mail that out to me. Huzzah.
Mind you, I've already started my broadripple socks with some blue and white variegated Opal yarn that I had around. Since the pattern was designed for sport weight, changes had to be made to use regular sock weight. The designer used a 56 stitch cast on for the sport weight, with 4 ripples around the sock, and advised a 72 stitch cast on for sock weight, with wider ripples. Now, this is for a "women's medium". That phrase is the bane of my existence. I am a woman's large - size 10 shoe, and it's the width that's a problem. (Custom made socks, for length, you just keep going until they're long enough.) After 3 babies, my feet are a bit wider, too. So whereas most women's medium sockweight yarn patterns are a cast on of about 64 stitches, I *start* with 72. This pattern needs more, because it's not ribbed at all. So I went back to the original pattern and used 6 ripples around, so my cast on is 84. Largest cast on for a sock I've ever done. I think they're going to be nice. I'll try to get a picture up soon - we have to do "in progress" pictures to count for the Knitalong.
Anyway, I can go back and do another pair of broadripple socks with the Cascade Fixation yarn. Of course, that means I have to redesign the SPORT weight pattern to fit a woman's large... I'm thinking on that already.
I think it's fascinating that we have over 200 people on this list already. I feel like something out of Alice's Restaurant:
And can you imagine fifty people a day? I said FIFTY people a day . . . walkin' in, casting on a pair of Broadripple socks, and walkin' out? Friends, they may think it's a MOVEMENT, and that's what it is: The Broadripple Socks Anti-ColdFeet Movement . . . and all you gotta do to join is to cast on your needles the next time they come around the row!
