Humdiggedty!

Big yarn ....

... makes big socks.

(Man's second best friend included for scale.)

A coupla trips through the washing machine ...

... gives you a wonderfully thick and warm pair of slipper socks. The pattern is Hamer's Humdingers, a variation of the old Two-strand Wool-Ease socks. Quick and easy. Very quick, as in you can easily do a whole sock in one evening.

Progress is progressing on my Curve of Pursuit, albeit slowly.

That's Square Six of Twelve finished, which might lead you to surmise that I'm halfway done, but you would be mistaken because each square is 1.5 times bigger than its predecessor. It's now at a stage where there's more knitting than picking up of stitches, so it should be easier to work on in bits and pieces of spare time.

I've decided not to do the Secret of Chrysopolis. First it morphed from a shawl into a stole, which gave me pause, and then it developed some hearts and stuff. It's a nice pattern, but not what I was hoping it would be. You can see someone else's here.

I'm in the Mystic Waters KAL, and this one is looking quite nice so far ... again, someone else's can be seen here. I like this one a lot better, but I don't think the rusty alpaca I was hoping to use would work as well for this. I'll sit on the side for a bit until I decide. If I do go for it, I might have to spring for some blue-ish Sea Silk. T'would be a pity, that. :-) Or maybe I should dig out the Swallowtail. Hmmmm.

In the Other News Department, I'm in Ravelry! Not very far in, but I'm in. I don't think I'll be posting stash, etc., but it should be good for researching patterns, etc. My Ravelry name is CriminyJickets; you may friend me, if you wish. (I'm not really sure yet what that means, but what the heck.)

Digging further into the Other News Department, my cable needle has run away from home. If you see it, please tell it Daddy loves it and would like it to come back home. I'm hoping to not have to resort to posting its picture on milk cartons.

Ridges and Ribs

That Mama-E ... she's always up to something. A while ago, she approached me about creating a colourway that was guy friendly. Hmm. Guy, or guy knitter? I went with guy knitter. :-)

I told her I really liked the Northern Lights colours in this picture. She took it from there, and created this yarn.




Of course, that wasn't the end of the deal. My end of the bargain was that I then had to come up with a new sock pattern.



Done!

At the time I was thinking about this, there was a lot of discussion on various blogs about patterns that would avoid pooling and striping. I don't think this yarn would have done that, given the way it was dyed, but I wanted to come up with something that might help with other yarns that would pool. I ended up using an elongated slip stitch, which should be enough to pull any yarn out of the pool, and twisting it to create a bit of a ridge for added texture.


Of course I had to use my favourite heel -- the Eye of the Partridge -- but I decided to carry one ridge down each side of the flap. I don't normally do that, but it was fun and gives it a bit of a different look.


Ridges and Ribs Socks

Fingering weight yarn and needles to give 9 stitches/inch
Sized to fit a man's Small or woman's Medium

(All stitches are slipped purl-wise unless otherwise noted, but always with yarn on wrong side.)

Cast on 72 stitches, join, (24-24-24) not twisting, etc.

Set up round (work once) * K3, P2, K1, P2 * repeat around

Commence pattern, 8-stitch/4-round repeat.

R1: * K3, P2, K1 wrapping stitch twice, P2 *

R2: * K3, P2, slip 1 knit-wise dropping extra wrap, P2 *

R3: * K3, P2, slip 1 knit-wise, P2 *

R4: Same as R3

Repeat the four pattern rows a total of 22 times, approx 7 inches (or to desired cuff length, ending with R4)

Divide for heel flap: K1 from needle 1 onto needle 3. (Instep begins and ends with 2 K stitches) Bring yarn to front, slip 1, bring yarn back, return stitch. The first instep stitch is wrapped. Turn and set up heel flap (Centre portion is EOP, with ridges on each side):

P1, K2, P1 wrapping stitch twice, K2, P17, P2tog, P8, K2, P1 wrapping twice, K2, P1 (38 stitches.)

Bring yarn to back, slip 1, yarn front, return stitch (instep stitch wrapped.) Turn, RS facing.

Heel flap (repeat the following 4 rows 9 times – 36 rows total):

R1: Sl 1, P2, slip 1 knit-wise dropping extra wrap, P2, (slip 1, K1) 13 times, P2, slip 1 knit-wise dropping extra wrap, P2, K1.

R2: Sl 1, K2, slip one purl-wise, K2, P26, K2, slip one purl-wise, K2, P1.

R3: Sl 1, P2, slip 1 knit-wise, return stitch to left needle and slip it knit-wise again, P2, (K1, slip 1) 13 times, P2, slip 1 knit-wise, return stitch to left needle and slip it knit-wise again, P2, K1.

R4: Sl 1, K2, P1 wrapping stitch twice, K2, P26, K2, P1 wrapping twice, K2, P1.

NB: On last repeat, wrap the purl stitch only once, NOT TWICE.

Turn heel (Round heel):

Sl 1, K20, SSK, K1, turn.
Sl 1, P5, P2tog, P1, turn.
Sl 1, K6, SSK, K1, turn.
Sl 1, P7, P2tog, P1, turn.

Continue working one more stitch before decreasing across gap until all stitches are worked – 22 stitches remain.

Sl 1, K across.

Pick up one stitch in each slipped stitch along heel flap (18 stitches).

Using a fresh needle, work across instep, picking up the wrap on the two outermost stitches and working ridges and ribs as set, starting with R1 of pattern.

Using another needle, pick up one stitch in each slipped stitch along heel flap (19 stitches) Yes, one extra on the second side of the flap. K 11 to middle of heel/beginning of round.

Knit to the last three stitches on needle one, K2tog, K1. On the instep needle, knit in pattern. On needle three, K 1, SSK, knit to end. Alternate knitting plain rounds and decrease rounds until you are back at 72 stitches.

Knit foot until approximiately 2 inches short of desired length, ending on row 4. Discontinue instep pattern and commence toe decreases. Distribute stitches 18-36-18.

Decrease Rnd: Needle 1, knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1. Needle 2, K1, SSK, knit to last three stitches, K2tog, K1. Needle 3, K1, SSK, knit to end.

Knit three rounds plain.

*Knit one decrease round, knit two rounds plain * Repeat between asterisks two times.

*Knit one decrease round, knit one round plain* Repeat between asterisks three times.

Knit only decrease rounds until 16 stitches remain. Graft toe and make second sock.

That tunnel has a light at the end.

You know how sometimes you just feel so busy that you get overwhelmed and instead of getting everything done you get nothing done? Yeah, that was September.

In lieu of any actual knitting content, and in an effort to avoid anyone having to ask, "Are you still alive", please allow me to merely point to several things that have caught my attention recently, the first being Blogging Without Obligation.

I like this. A lot. As in, I intend to follow it. If you like the philosophy behind eradicating "post pollution," feel free to share.

Next up: Fun with short rows!! Very cool. And then, more fun with short rows -- on socks!! I'm going to have to figure out how to adapt that into a sock that I can wear.

Next up: Knitters Tea Swap 4 is now open!

That's all for now. I may have an FO this weekend, but maybe not.