My Clapotis is zooming right along. I got to drop two rows of stitches last night. It was exciting, yet kind of scary. Even though the pattern calls for it, I still felt a little unsettled purposely dropping stitches all the way to the bottom of the work!
Of course, I had the usual pointless interaction with my husband when he got home from his weekly "guys' night out":
ME: Do you want to see my shawl?
JIM: (with absolutely no enthusiasm) Okay.
ME: See how pretty it will be? (said as I'm taking the project out)
JIM: Oh, yeah! (said before I even get a chance to spread the work on the couch)
ME: See how I dropped two rows of stitches? See?
JIM: That's really nice (still with a notable lack of enthusiasm)
ME: Feel this yarn, feel it! Isn't it soft?
JIM: Yep.
ME: This will be really gorgeous when it's done.
JIM: What is it supposed to be again?
At this point, I usually shove everything back in the knitting bag and walk away to prevent myself from poking him with pointy needles.
He does not have the love for yarn. We had knitting night on Tuesday and several of us commented on how most men don't "get" the whole fiber thing. I love the way good yarn feels, especially alpaca. I'm always saying I would knit sheets out of alpaca just so I could be completely immersed in it every night. I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I have two skeins of alpaca yarn bought solely for petting with no project in mind. Most men also don't seem to get the whole "I made this from a ball of string" aspect of knitting. I still get a thrill of amazement watching a project emerge. I want to run around telling everyone "Look at me! I'm making this! Out of STRING! Can you believe it? I took some sticks and some string and made THIS! Come on, feel it...." etc. If you're reading this, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, please note that, although I WANT to run around saying this, I don't actually do it. I don't want people to think I'm any more odd than they already do.
I will say this for Jim, he does get my need to have my obsessive hobbies and he never complains about how much I spend on them. He'll even suggest I make certain projects and tell me to get the yarn for them. Which is why I should really make the wool clogs he asked for in March. I swear, I'm going to cast them on as soon as I get rid of the Clap.
Get rid of the Clap! ha ha. See what I did there? Yeah, I'm a huge dork, which is why I try to hide my crazy crafting thing from the normal parents. I'm thinking of my kids and the potential for their future embarassment.
I'll post a picture later when I actually have one. Until then, you can simultaneously drool and feel horror while looking at the picture in this post about the beautiful Blue Heron yarn I'm working with for this project. Mine is in the Chesapeake colorway if you are interested. I cannot not praise this yarn too much. It's just gorgeous.
Showing posts with label yarn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yarn. Show all posts
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I Can Hear You Calling
I have been pretty productive lately, knitwise. The gargantuan sleeve is still in the bottom of my knitting bag, but I cast on the Stained Glass Bag, which is a lot of fun. I have one more row to finish before I start the bottom and I think I can finish it this weekend.
That being said, I also have three sweaters, a pair of socks, a pair of mittens, and a stole on the needles that need to be finished up. That's not including the jacket-gone-wrong. Which brings me to the Blue Heron yarn.
Ahhh, the Blue Heron rayon metallic. I hate rayon and I'm not a fan of metallic yarn, but as soon as I saw the Blue Heron, I wanted to touch it. As soon as I touched it, I wanted to buy it. It's so soft and just has a hint of gold running through it. The colorway I bought looks like a peacock feather, with dark green, purple, and gold. I'd put up a picture for you, but pictures don't do this yarn justice. I spent more on one 550 yard skein of Blue Heron than I've spent on any other single skein of yarn I own, and I still think it was worth every penny.
For two weeks, the Blue Heron has been sitting in the basket in my office. I can hear it calling to me. It wants to be made into a clapotis shawl. I've been working very hard on the stained glass bag, but every day I've spent just a little time reading up on the Clapotis. I looked at a lot of different finished Clapotis shawls and read about modifications. I looked at all the Clapotis shawls people made with Blue Heron rayon metallic and read all of the comments. I printed out the pattern from Knitty and some notes from Ravelry projects discussing the modifications I want to make.
I started bargaining with the Blue Heron. First, I promised it I would make the Clapotis once the stained glass bag, circle jacket and socks were done. The Blue Heron was not amused. Then I offered to cast it on as soon as the circle jacket and bag were done. The Blue Heron just laughed mockingly and turned away. Finally, I begged the Blue Heron to consider waiting until the stained glass bag was done. The Blue Heron simply ignored me and kept up its siren call.
This morning, after a long struggle with my conscience, I decided that I could cast on the Clapotis this evening. I reasoned that the stained glass bag was almost finished, and I decided I would give the Clapotis to someone as a Christmas gift in order to justify starting yet another project.
I took out the skein, untied it and held it in my lap for a while. It is so beautiful that I started to wind it by hand just so I could touch it for a while. I quickly realized that even the beautiful hand of of Blue Heron rayon metallic was not worth winding for 550 yards, so I pulled out the ball winder and got it set up. I even convinced Lily to help me by turning the winder handle while I held the skein.
I am firmly convinced there is a knitting goddess. I think the knitting goddess would like me to balance out my selfish desire to knit things for myself with my selfless desire to make things for others. I think She is unhappy with the recent spate of projects I've made for myself. I think She totally knows that, even though I promised myself I would give the Clapotis as a Christmas gift, it's probably NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. In other words, you just can't fool the knitting goddess.
Several things happened as I started to wind up the Blue Heron (which was cheering me on, by the way). First, Jim cut his finger pretty badly and asked me to look up his injury on the internet to see if he ought to go to the ER. Second, while I was in the office looking up Jim's injury, Lily helped me out by winding some of the Blue Heron. The knitting goddess smiled somewhere. When I came back into the dining room and told Jim he should probably go to the ER, I saw this on the dining room table:
I worked on unwinding this knot (which is in the middle of the skein, by the way) from 3:30pm until 8:00pm. I stopped only to serve the kids dinner and to vacuum up the mess afterwards. At 7:00pm, I gave up and cut the yarn. I will end up with 3 skeins of this yarn -- the part on the ball winder, the tangled part, and the bulk of the yarn that was left in the skein after the knitting goddess struck me down. It is still not untangled. I was planning on casting it on tonight so that I would have something simple to work on when we have company tomorrow and Monday. I now think it quite likely that I will not finish straightening out this mess until well after our company has gone. As a result, I will be casting on the second sleeve of the circle jacket and working on that instead.
Jim did go to the ER and he's fine. He just needed a little super glue to fix up his cut. Of course, it took Melrose-Wakefield Hospital 3 hours to come to that conclusion. He would have been better off going to the walk-in clinic at MGH, even though it's farther away. I guess we both learned a lesson today. Jim's lesson: Unless it's an emergency, take the extra time to drive into Boston for medical care. My lesson: Don't mess with the knitting gods, you selfish bitch!
That being said, I also have three sweaters, a pair of socks, a pair of mittens, and a stole on the needles that need to be finished up. That's not including the jacket-gone-wrong. Which brings me to the Blue Heron yarn.
Ahhh, the Blue Heron rayon metallic. I hate rayon and I'm not a fan of metallic yarn, but as soon as I saw the Blue Heron, I wanted to touch it. As soon as I touched it, I wanted to buy it. It's so soft and just has a hint of gold running through it. The colorway I bought looks like a peacock feather, with dark green, purple, and gold. I'd put up a picture for you, but pictures don't do this yarn justice. I spent more on one 550 yard skein of Blue Heron than I've spent on any other single skein of yarn I own, and I still think it was worth every penny.
For two weeks, the Blue Heron has been sitting in the basket in my office. I can hear it calling to me. It wants to be made into a clapotis shawl. I've been working very hard on the stained glass bag, but every day I've spent just a little time reading up on the Clapotis. I looked at a lot of different finished Clapotis shawls and read about modifications. I looked at all the Clapotis shawls people made with Blue Heron rayon metallic and read all of the comments. I printed out the pattern from Knitty and some notes from Ravelry projects discussing the modifications I want to make.
I started bargaining with the Blue Heron. First, I promised it I would make the Clapotis once the stained glass bag, circle jacket and socks were done. The Blue Heron was not amused. Then I offered to cast it on as soon as the circle jacket and bag were done. The Blue Heron just laughed mockingly and turned away. Finally, I begged the Blue Heron to consider waiting until the stained glass bag was done. The Blue Heron simply ignored me and kept up its siren call.
This morning, after a long struggle with my conscience, I decided that I could cast on the Clapotis this evening. I reasoned that the stained glass bag was almost finished, and I decided I would give the Clapotis to someone as a Christmas gift in order to justify starting yet another project.
I took out the skein, untied it and held it in my lap for a while. It is so beautiful that I started to wind it by hand just so I could touch it for a while. I quickly realized that even the beautiful hand of of Blue Heron rayon metallic was not worth winding for 550 yards, so I pulled out the ball winder and got it set up. I even convinced Lily to help me by turning the winder handle while I held the skein.
I am firmly convinced there is a knitting goddess. I think the knitting goddess would like me to balance out my selfish desire to knit things for myself with my selfless desire to make things for others. I think She is unhappy with the recent spate of projects I've made for myself. I think She totally knows that, even though I promised myself I would give the Clapotis as a Christmas gift, it's probably NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. In other words, you just can't fool the knitting goddess.
Several things happened as I started to wind up the Blue Heron (which was cheering me on, by the way). First, Jim cut his finger pretty badly and asked me to look up his injury on the internet to see if he ought to go to the ER. Second, while I was in the office looking up Jim's injury, Lily helped me out by winding some of the Blue Heron. The knitting goddess smiled somewhere. When I came back into the dining room and told Jim he should probably go to the ER, I saw this on the dining room table:
I worked on unwinding this knot (which is in the middle of the skein, by the way) from 3:30pm until 8:00pm. I stopped only to serve the kids dinner and to vacuum up the mess afterwards. At 7:00pm, I gave up and cut the yarn. I will end up with 3 skeins of this yarn -- the part on the ball winder, the tangled part, and the bulk of the yarn that was left in the skein after the knitting goddess struck me down. It is still not untangled. I was planning on casting it on tonight so that I would have something simple to work on when we have company tomorrow and Monday. I now think it quite likely that I will not finish straightening out this mess until well after our company has gone. As a result, I will be casting on the second sleeve of the circle jacket and working on that instead.
Jim did go to the ER and he's fine. He just needed a little super glue to fix up his cut. Of course, it took Melrose-Wakefield Hospital 3 hours to come to that conclusion. He would have been better off going to the walk-in clinic at MGH, even though it's farther away. I guess we both learned a lesson today. Jim's lesson: Unless it's an emergency, take the extra time to drive into Boston for medical care. My lesson: Don't mess with the knitting gods, you selfish bitch!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Climber Down! Climber Down!
Oh God. I can barely stand to write about this. I had to frog the Stole of Evil this morning. Again. All the way to nothing.
I had progressed to 1.5 repeats. All appeared well. On the last row, I came up with one stitch too many. I counted again, still 81. I spread out the lace to see where I might have been wrong. Couldn't spot it. No problem, I thought, I'll just frog back to the life line. Both life lines were securely in place. No problem!
Problem. As I was counting the stitches after retrieving them from the lifeline, I saw a HOLE. Not an unusually large yarn over, but a HOLE. And two tiny little dropped stitches inside it.
WAY down below the lifelines, near row 5 or 7, by my estimate.
Somehow, despite my careful counting, despite my life lines, despite EVERYTHING I have done to make this work, there were two dropped stitches. Impossible! Except...I did remember thinking that there was one place where the yarn split a bit and the stitches were on the thin side. Apparently it was too thin and it let go.
I am telling myself to be grateful it happened when I was only 18 rows from the start, but still.
I think the Stole of Evil knows I'm trying to conquer it and it's FIGHTING BACK. I'm going to sit down with it today for a few hours and have a stern talk with it. If it still can't behave, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put it in the naughty closet with the other bad projects until it has had enough time to think about its bad behavior and reconsider.
Do you hear me, Stole of Evil? This is your last chance before I hibernate you or possibly even trade you to someone else for better yarn that will behave. Don't mess with me!
I had progressed to 1.5 repeats. All appeared well. On the last row, I came up with one stitch too many. I counted again, still 81. I spread out the lace to see where I might have been wrong. Couldn't spot it. No problem, I thought, I'll just frog back to the life line. Both life lines were securely in place. No problem!
Problem. As I was counting the stitches after retrieving them from the lifeline, I saw a HOLE. Not an unusually large yarn over, but a HOLE. And two tiny little dropped stitches inside it.
WAY down below the lifelines, near row 5 or 7, by my estimate.
Somehow, despite my careful counting, despite my life lines, despite EVERYTHING I have done to make this work, there were two dropped stitches. Impossible! Except...I did remember thinking that there was one place where the yarn split a bit and the stitches were on the thin side. Apparently it was too thin and it let go.
I am telling myself to be grateful it happened when I was only 18 rows from the start, but still.
I think the Stole of Evil knows I'm trying to conquer it and it's FIGHTING BACK. I'm going to sit down with it today for a few hours and have a stern talk with it. If it still can't behave, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put it in the naughty closet with the other bad projects until it has had enough time to think about its bad behavior and reconsider.
Do you hear me, Stole of Evil? This is your last chance before I hibernate you or possibly even trade you to someone else for better yarn that will behave. Don't mess with me!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Home Alone and Some General News
First things first. The kids are at my parents' house for 2 weeks! They left yesterday evening and (so far) they are having the time of their lives. Jack told me he was playing with Grammy and Granddaddy and that Granddaddy has a mustache. Lily told me she missed me at first but that now she was having "so much fun" playing she didn't mind.
With the kids out of the house, Jim and I are at a bit of a loss. We had to set the alarm clock for the first time in two years because Jim had a very early meeting scheduled this morning. Jack wakes us up no later than 6 am every morning (sometimes much earlier). Jim actually set his phone alarm and the alarm clock so that he wouldn't sleep through it.
I got up when Jim did and had breakfast, but decided to get back in bed around 7:30. It was nice to sleep without any interruptions and I felt refreshed and full of energy for the rest of the day. I spent about 4 hours doing heavy spring cleaning in Jack's new room (more on this later), the living room, dining room and kitchen. I also worked on my stole (see earlier post today). When Jim got home, we went to try out the Mexican restaurant that moved into Melrose a few years ago (we weren't impressed). We each had an adult beverage. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home because there was no rush, and picked up a few staples. We came home to a clean, quiet home.
It's nice, but I really miss the kids. I also feel really strange all day, like I'm forgetting something. I keep thinking I hear Jack crying upstairs. I keep planning everything around picking the kids up at school. Jim thinks that by the time we both fully realize that we can enjoy time on our own, it will be time for the kids to come home!
Now for some general news. We've been having lots of fun lately. We (well, mostly me) celebrated the Trifecta, which is what Jim calls my birthday/wedding anniversary/Mother's day weekend. Lily and Jack bought me a ball winder, and Jim bought me Wii Fit, fancy-schmancy hand-made chocolates and took me to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival, where he bought me two skeins of pretty sock yarn. The kids loved the festival -- Jack because he's fascinated by roving, and Lily because there was ice cream. Jim had a buffalo burger and we all shared french fries and kettle corn. Lots of fun.
My parents came into town last week for Lily's ballet recital. Their trip just happened to coincide with the big WEBS tent sale, so I convinced my mom to drive out to Northampton with me. We left early, had breakfast at Sylvester's, and then went to the sale.
I'd been told how big the store was, and that it was attached to a giant warehouse, but it was still pretty overwhelming to see it. I bought lots of yarn, most of which is earmarked for Christmas gifts. My mom picked out yarn she liked and asked me to make her a shrug, so that's one of the things on my list. I treated myself to some wool/alpaca sport weight which should make me a sweater and leave enough for a child's sweater as well. Anyway, it was lots of fun and VERY cheap.
The following day, we went to Lily's recital. She was excited all day. I put her hair in a bun and used hair spray, which she thought was pretty neat. I put real makeup on her (she told everyone "I'm wearing my mom's makeup!"). We bought her real flowers to give her at the end of the show.
Her ballet class gave the first performance. I've been watching them practice this dance for at least 6 months. Like snowflakes, no students have ever performed the dance alike. That being said, their performance at the recital was the most coordinated I've seen. Lily really impressed me. She followed the routine very closely and did the best I've seen her do. We thought she was the best performer, of course!
She was really excited to get a real flower and immediately put the vase in her room. We left at the first intermission and took the kids home so Jack could nap, then we went to Jim's boss' home for a barbecue with his colleagues. We got rained on, so the party continued in the house, but we still had a lot of fun. Jack apparently stole a finger puppet shaped like a whale, concealed it in his pocket and brought it home (at least, that's what Lily claims). I just now (as I'm writing) asked Jim about it, and it turns out that Jack handed the puppet to Jim, who concealed it (inadvertantly) in HIS pocket and accidentally brought it home. Oops. When I asked Jack about the puppet, he told me he "got it at the shiny house." We think he was talking about the shiny new floors in the house, which was recently renovated.
Anyway...the kids got cake, so they were in seventh heaven. We spent the next day (Monday) getting ready for the trip and they flew out last night.
Jim and I plan on doing some painting (living room and dining room), some nights out (dinner and movies, mostly) and may even take a couple of days off to drive to Montreal next week. We'll see how things go.
With the kids out of the house, Jim and I are at a bit of a loss. We had to set the alarm clock for the first time in two years because Jim had a very early meeting scheduled this morning. Jack wakes us up no later than 6 am every morning (sometimes much earlier). Jim actually set his phone alarm and the alarm clock so that he wouldn't sleep through it.
I got up when Jim did and had breakfast, but decided to get back in bed around 7:30. It was nice to sleep without any interruptions and I felt refreshed and full of energy for the rest of the day. I spent about 4 hours doing heavy spring cleaning in Jack's new room (more on this later), the living room, dining room and kitchen. I also worked on my stole (see earlier post today). When Jim got home, we went to try out the Mexican restaurant that moved into Melrose a few years ago (we weren't impressed). We each had an adult beverage. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home because there was no rush, and picked up a few staples. We came home to a clean, quiet home.
It's nice, but I really miss the kids. I also feel really strange all day, like I'm forgetting something. I keep thinking I hear Jack crying upstairs. I keep planning everything around picking the kids up at school. Jim thinks that by the time we both fully realize that we can enjoy time on our own, it will be time for the kids to come home!
Now for some general news. We've been having lots of fun lately. We (well, mostly me) celebrated the Trifecta, which is what Jim calls my birthday/wedding anniversary/Mother's day weekend. Lily and Jack bought me a ball winder, and Jim bought me Wii Fit, fancy-schmancy hand-made chocolates and took me to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival, where he bought me two skeins of pretty sock yarn. The kids loved the festival -- Jack because he's fascinated by roving, and Lily because there was ice cream. Jim had a buffalo burger and we all shared french fries and kettle corn. Lots of fun.
My parents came into town last week for Lily's ballet recital. Their trip just happened to coincide with the big WEBS tent sale, so I convinced my mom to drive out to Northampton with me. We left early, had breakfast at Sylvester's, and then went to the sale.
I'd been told how big the store was, and that it was attached to a giant warehouse, but it was still pretty overwhelming to see it. I bought lots of yarn, most of which is earmarked for Christmas gifts. My mom picked out yarn she liked and asked me to make her a shrug, so that's one of the things on my list. I treated myself to some wool/alpaca sport weight which should make me a sweater and leave enough for a child's sweater as well. Anyway, it was lots of fun and VERY cheap.
The following day, we went to Lily's recital. She was excited all day. I put her hair in a bun and used hair spray, which she thought was pretty neat. I put real makeup on her (she told everyone "I'm wearing my mom's makeup!"). We bought her real flowers to give her at the end of the show.
Her ballet class gave the first performance. I've been watching them practice this dance for at least 6 months. Like snowflakes, no students have ever performed the dance alike. That being said, their performance at the recital was the most coordinated I've seen. Lily really impressed me. She followed the routine very closely and did the best I've seen her do. We thought she was the best performer, of course!
She was really excited to get a real flower and immediately put the vase in her room. We left at the first intermission and took the kids home so Jack could nap, then we went to Jim's boss' home for a barbecue with his colleagues. We got rained on, so the party continued in the house, but we still had a lot of fun. Jack apparently stole a finger puppet shaped like a whale, concealed it in his pocket and brought it home (at least, that's what Lily claims). I just now (as I'm writing) asked Jim about it, and it turns out that Jack handed the puppet to Jim, who concealed it (inadvertantly) in HIS pocket and accidentally brought it home. Oops. When I asked Jack about the puppet, he told me he "got it at the shiny house." We think he was talking about the shiny new floors in the house, which was recently renovated.
Anyway...the kids got cake, so they were in seventh heaven. We spent the next day (Monday) getting ready for the trip and they flew out last night.
Jim and I plan on doing some painting (living room and dining room), some nights out (dinner and movies, mostly) and may even take a couple of days off to drive to Montreal next week. We'll see how things go.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Another Knitting Lesson Learned
Subtitle: I cannot read and I am an idiot. Oh yeah, and swatching is GOOD.
I've been working on a beautiful sock ever since I filed my taxes last week. The pattern is Pomatomus (named after a fish for the scale-like lace pattern) and the sock yarn is Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in the Garden colorway. I've provided the Classic Elite link, but the picture does not do this beautiful yarn justice. It has deep to medium greens, medium to light blue and pale pink shades, and the colors remind me of Monet's water lily paintings.
I'm enjoying the pattern and the beautiful yarn and it's been a real pleasure to work on the sock. I have only a few inches left on the first sock, and I've carefully worked out how to reverse the pattern on the second sock to make them more symmetrical (don't ask! I should never read blog comments on Ravelry). My only concern has been the fit. The Alpaca Sox yarn has a bit of nylon in it and is pretty stretchy. The Pomatomus pattern is basically a twisted rib variation, and is pretty stretchy. I've tried the sock on a couple of times and the leg is pretty slouchy.
Hmmm. I wonder why? Let's see, the pattern calls for US 5 needles. Doesn't that sound big for a sock? It did to me. Of course, consistent with my solemn oath after the sad demise of the Bunny Mitten, I have been swatching all of my projects. Size 5 needles gave me a gauge that was about 3x larger than called for. I swatched on 4s and was still above gauge. I swatched on 3s and got pretty close to gauge, so that's what I'm knitting with.
I knit pretty tight on DPNs, so I was kind of surprised to go down needle sizes. I usually go up. Hmmm. I wonder why?
Last night, I went to my local knitting group. As I was basking in the love for my sock and the yarn, there was some inquiry into the size needle I was using. Apparently, it looked larger than usual to some people. I agreed. It's normal to see 1s and 2s for socks in sock weight yarn. I pulled out the pattern and read it. "It says "5 US." I said. No one could believe it. They asked "Did you check the site for errata?" I did. "Haven't people complained that the sock runs too small?" Mine isn't small -- if anything it will be a bit large.
Later that night, Paulette, who I've now appointed my knitting guru, sent me an e-mail gently advising me that the pattern calls for US size 2 needles. She was so curious about the odd needle size that she looked up the pattern on Knitty when she got home.
This is what the pattern read: 1 set of 5 US #2/2.75mm double-point needles.
I must have read the pattern ten times and I saw "1 set of No. 5 US DPNs" Sadly, what it actually says is "1 set of five No. 2 US DPNs." No wonder the gauge was so off! And, true to form, I had to go up a needle size to get gauge. Unfortunately, as I've gone along on the sock, I think my gauge has gotten looser. Now I'm worried there will not be enough yarn for the second sock!
I've been struggling back and forth all morning -- frog it and start with smaller needles to get a better fit? Live with the slightly slouchy fit, since I'm halfway through the project? I think I'm going to live with what I have -- I don't have the intestinal fortitude to frog that entire pretty sock.
I will say this again -- Gauge is Good! I am so glad I swatched for this project. I don't even want to think about how crazy these socks would have looked on No. 5s!
I've been working on a beautiful sock ever since I filed my taxes last week. The pattern is Pomatomus (named after a fish for the scale-like lace pattern) and the sock yarn is Classic Elite Alpaca Sox in the Garden colorway. I've provided the Classic Elite link, but the picture does not do this beautiful yarn justice. It has deep to medium greens, medium to light blue and pale pink shades, and the colors remind me of Monet's water lily paintings.
I'm enjoying the pattern and the beautiful yarn and it's been a real pleasure to work on the sock. I have only a few inches left on the first sock, and I've carefully worked out how to reverse the pattern on the second sock to make them more symmetrical (don't ask! I should never read blog comments on Ravelry). My only concern has been the fit. The Alpaca Sox yarn has a bit of nylon in it and is pretty stretchy. The Pomatomus pattern is basically a twisted rib variation, and is pretty stretchy. I've tried the sock on a couple of times and the leg is pretty slouchy.
Hmmm. I wonder why? Let's see, the pattern calls for US 5 needles. Doesn't that sound big for a sock? It did to me. Of course, consistent with my solemn oath after the sad demise of the Bunny Mitten, I have been swatching all of my projects. Size 5 needles gave me a gauge that was about 3x larger than called for. I swatched on 4s and was still above gauge. I swatched on 3s and got pretty close to gauge, so that's what I'm knitting with.
I knit pretty tight on DPNs, so I was kind of surprised to go down needle sizes. I usually go up. Hmmm. I wonder why?
Last night, I went to my local knitting group. As I was basking in the love for my sock and the yarn, there was some inquiry into the size needle I was using. Apparently, it looked larger than usual to some people. I agreed. It's normal to see 1s and 2s for socks in sock weight yarn. I pulled out the pattern and read it. "It says "5 US." I said. No one could believe it. They asked "Did you check the site for errata?" I did. "Haven't people complained that the sock runs too small?" Mine isn't small -- if anything it will be a bit large.
Later that night, Paulette, who I've now appointed my knitting guru, sent me an e-mail gently advising me that the pattern calls for US size 2 needles. She was so curious about the odd needle size that she looked up the pattern on Knitty when she got home.
This is what the pattern read: 1 set of 5 US #2/2.75mm double-point needles.
I must have read the pattern ten times and I saw "1 set of No. 5 US DPNs" Sadly, what it actually says is "1 set of five No. 2 US DPNs." No wonder the gauge was so off! And, true to form, I had to go up a needle size to get gauge. Unfortunately, as I've gone along on the sock, I think my gauge has gotten looser. Now I'm worried there will not be enough yarn for the second sock!
I've been struggling back and forth all morning -- frog it and start with smaller needles to get a better fit? Live with the slightly slouchy fit, since I'm halfway through the project? I think I'm going to live with what I have -- I don't have the intestinal fortitude to frog that entire pretty sock.
I will say this again -- Gauge is Good! I am so glad I swatched for this project. I don't even want to think about how crazy these socks would have looked on No. 5s!
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