In which we discover that I am an idiot who can't read.

Well. It's not that I can't read. It's that I was reading the wrong way. Let me explain.

After weeks of listening to Lime & Violet's Podcast and becoming a friend of Wendy Knits on Plurk, the sock knitting bug bit me bad. I bought a pair of size one circulars and balled up my own handspun (CJKopec's "Inquiry" fiber, spun into a fingering weight 3 ply). I picked Wendy Knit's "Cabletini" toe-up sock pattern and set about figuring out Judy's magic cast on. I had limited success as I forgot several times which rows I was increasing and which ones I wasn't supposed to. The toe looks like this:

Obviously, no one in the world has toes that shaped, but I'm hoping that blocking will lessen the severity of the toe shape and that if it doesn't, wearing it will hide it's oddness.

As I started knitting the pattern, I noticed that the cables were off center. Looking at the above pic you can see that they are all on the left of the sock. At first I was concerned; it didn't look "right." But as I knit I told myself that it was so that the cables were on the outside of the sock and that the directions would be reversed for the other foot. That would mean that I am knitting the right foot right now. Happily I continued knitting.

But then I started thinking about the last cable on the outside. There are no purls on the far side of it; it melts straight into the stockinette of the foot. On the inside of the foot there are six purl stiches. That seemed like a lot. I paused and read the directions again.

"Row 1: on needle one, purl 3, work the six stiches of row 1 of thechart pattern 5 times. On needle two, knit all 33 stitches."

That's exactly what I did. I decided to see what the pattern said to do for the second sock. Ummm. Huh? There were no directions for the second sock. If the socks had a definite left and right, shouldn't there be directions for both?

And that's when it hit me.

I'd read the chart backwards. Without the little chart note that said "charts are read from right to left" I'd forgotten and done what I do whenever I read and knit the chart left to right. Damn, damn, and double damn. I've knit five inches and it's all WRONG. LOOK AT THE UGLY:
So what do I do? I know that I am the only knitter in my family so the only one who will know that I did this pattern wrong. I am adept enough that I can mirror the cables on the other sock and make them look deliberate. But do I want to knit TWO incorrect socks? Do I want to frog the entire sock and start over? I've been working on this sock for about five hours so far, and I'm not even to the gusset yet. Somebody help - what should I do?

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Woot! Pictures!!

I know I haven't been updating this blog lately. I'm sorry. No really! It isn't that I don't like this blog, because I do - I just haven't had much at all to share. I haven't spun or knit much to speak of, and you can only photograph the same thing so many times before it just isn't worth photographing anymore.

I do have one new thing on the spindle. It's the May offering from CJ Kopec. It's a merino/silk blend with a bit of angelina, named "Envious Eyes." I think I'm going to keep it a laceweight single and perhaps make a Wisp out of it. Isn't it pretty?

And I finally found a pattern for my March offering from CJ Kopec ("Inquiry") - toe-up cabletini socks from Wendyknits (check out her blog in my sidebar). I'm learning toe up for this sock. I'm nervous and thrilled all at once. I'm just starting the toe now. See?


Other than that, I'm mostly working on Girasole. I'm still on chart D and will be for probably at least another week. I hope to get some car knitting done this weekend as I'll be spending several hours in the car on the way to and from my parents' house. I hope to have a completed chart D to show you on Monday.

Happy knitting!

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Something old, something new...

I just wanted to update you all on what I've got going on. For starters, I set the twist on my "Watch for Me by Moonlight" yarn and all I can say is Holy. Crap. It fluffed up and got much bouncier after drying. I can't say how much I heart it! I plan on taking pics today in the sunshine. Maybe I'll edit this post and add a pic later.
I've begun a spinning project to tide me over until I get May's SAL fiber from CJKopec Creations. This fiber is 100% tussah silk from DyingforColour (Etsy), called "Scottish Heather". I loved the name so I bought it, even though I'd never spun silk before. I was nervous about the silk, actually, since I have heard that it sticks to everything and I have dry skin that easily "hooks" on fiber. I am spinning it on my .95 ounce Golding. This is the perfect spindle for this project. It's heavy enough that I don't get the single too thin and the rim-weighting means that it spins almost until forever. I think the silk has something to do with that, too. I find that I actually have to stop the spindle before it's ready to stop, because otherwise the single gets dangerously overspun. It looks divine, though. I absolutely love it. I'm making sure to moisturize a LOT before I touch the silk, which seems to be helping.

I had April vacation last week (public high schools close for a week in April here in Maine) and had a goal of getting some knitting done. I managed only this week to actually do some. I did get my Not-So-Wispy done (I will block it today, I hope), but Girasole sat in my knitting bag untouched. I just didn't have the mental fortitude to accomplish any knitting that was anything other than mindless. I did get eleven rows done on it this week, though. I'm almost halfway done chart D. Chart D is a spiral that goes first in one direction, then another. I think I will have to change colors where the direction shifts; I didn't want to, but I only have so much of the gray yarn. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that making this choice doesn't ruin the blanket. I'd like to get to the color change by this weekend, which is about four rows away.

I knit a section of my entrelac scarf yesterday and had to wonder why I put it down in the first place. Although I'm doing it on size one needles, the entrelac makes me feel like I'm getting a lot accomplished. I love the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn I'm using, too, because the colors are fantastic. Fan. Freaking. Tastic. The scarf will be amazing when it's done. IF it ever gets done.


Oh! I forgot to mention! My friend Karin from knit group (more on her and her SHEEP in an upcoming post) is making a wholesale order to Peace Fleece and is letting me get some yarn using the pricing she gets ($4 a skein, people!). I'm getting one skein of Siberian Midnight and one of Firebird Orange for now. I would like to knit a sweater and need several skeins of black for the body and sleeves (I'll be using my own handspun for the yoke), but that will have to wait a few months, I think.

I think that's about it right now... I'm looking for a pair of socks and some sock yarn to knit next. I've been listening to Lime N Violet's podcast a lot lately, and they are crazy about socks. They are infecting me with their sock madness! Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for a toe-up sock.

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