Saturday, November 18, 2006

Top Three Ways to Murder a Klog

1. Don't Post [check]
2. Post, but don't talk about knitting [check]
3. Post, talk about knitting, but don't post pictures [check]

I've been seriously swamped lately, leading to not posting in general. I just wanted to reassure you all (ha, like there are actually people reading this!) that I'm still alive and that the Klog will eventually be resurrected - probably in the next week or so, with a weekly posting schedule.

Please check back for details.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ze Current Project

Do you all remember a few posts back when I said that these:

would be my next pair of socks?

Well, I decided to go with the Ripple Weave pattern out of the current Vogue Knitting. It reminded me of Pomatomus, which was the first sock I actually really enjoyed knitting and the thing that kicked off my current sock craze. I liked the look of the ripples, I liked the way they went back and forth, and while I didn't like the heel or the toe, I rarely do and figured I would simply sub in my typical short-row heel and star-toe.

Things did not go according to plan.

First of all, the chart for the pattern had a glaring error in it. It was so bad, in fact, that when I perused the chart for the first time I thought to myself, "Huh, that's funny. I don't think I'll do it that way." As of this posting, the errata page of the magazine still does not list a correction for the chart, but if you've seen it you know it's wrong.

Persevering
despite the obstacle, I did my revision back to what I think the designer's original intent was, and got about an inch into the pattern.

At this point, I should explain something. The pattern is very, very similar to Pomatomus. It is, in fact, so similar that I thought at first Cookie must have designed it. Unfortunately, I think the designer may have seen Pomatomus, thought it looked cool, and tried to fudge the pattern until she had something she could call "her own". I don't know if the problem came when she tried to make flat knitting instructions round or what, but the chart simply doesn't make much sense. For example, there are two yarn overs right next to each other. These yarn overs exist so that a decrease can be made every row. Personally, I would think it would make more sense to, like Pomatomus, have one decrease and one yarn over every round. There is no structural or patterning reason for having the yarn overs every other row, and every reason not to.

Still, I was ready to knit the pattern as written - I was already an inch in anyway - until I got to the point where the "ripple" comes in. At this point, the pattern kind of...well, it isn't intuitive, let's just leave it at that. I was fed up enough that I pulled the sock off the needles, frogged it back to the bottom of the cuff ribbing, picked up the stitches, and began Pomatomus. At the point where the sock is supposed to "ripple" (now referred to as "wave" as I've renamed these socks "Wavy Weave"), I simply reversed the Pomatomus chart. The yarn overs are nicer, the waves are nicer (in my opinion), and it doesn't make your brain explode to try to understand it.

Seriously.

So...after getting through all that text (and without any Knitting pr0n!), do you want some compensation? Perhaps...


...a finished sock?

Here's the sock in a less dramatic and slightly closer view:


And the sole of the sock:


Perhaps you'd like to see it off of my foot?


In an effort to get through the Second Sock Syndrome, I immediately cast on the second and began knitting. Just to make it interesting, I thought I'd try knitting it on one circular (not a 12" , as Kristi recommends, but I will be trying that technique soon - eBay is my new bank account). Anyway, I've already made significant progress on the Second of the Wavy Weave socks - I project that they should be done within a week, giving me yet another pair of finished socks!



Also, I'm having a love-hate relationship with the yarn. It's Ja Woll, in...something. They don't name their colors, so I see little point in giving you the number. If you ask, I'll post, but otherwise I think you'll recognize it.

The love comes from the colors, the weight of the yarn, the feel of the yarn, and the little bobbin of reinforcing thread they put in the skein for toes and heels. Honestly, I ♥ this yarn.

The hate comes from the colors and the little bobbin of reinforcing thread. Yes, these are both things I love, but they're giving me no end of headaches. You can probably tell from the pictures that the colors are pooling...sometimes. If they were doing it all the time, I'd just accept it, but they didn't pool on the cuff and they don't pool the same way throughout the sock. It's...frustrating. As for the bobbin - well, first of all, I completely forgot to bring it with me the day I wanted to do the heel (the socks are my away-from-home project), so I had to go all the way home to get the bobbin and thus skip out on most of a career fair at my school (we'll refrain from examining at the moment that knitting the heel of the sock was apparently more important than my future career, shall we?). Plus, knitting with both the yarn and reinforcing thread makes the heel, well, reinforced. This means thicker. I don't like thick socks. However, I also want the socks to last a long while. It's a Catch-22 I tell you, and I blame the bobbin for putting me in this position.

In other news (and to make this post really long so you'll forgive me if I don't get back to posting this week), I accidentally bought some new yarn at The Weaving Works. I went in just to look and fondle (really!) but I saw these and couldn't help myself:


I mean, just look at those colors. I'm especially in love with the almost rainbow one:

I love the way the colors seem to just melt into themselves. I can't wait to see what it does as socks.

As for the blue:

I think I already know what I'm doing with this one. I think I'll adapt the print o' the wave pattern for circular knitting and have lacy, wavy socks in the colors of the sea.

If only I had four hands and time to actually knit things...

Friday, November 03, 2006

Ze Curse

Note to self: it is a bad, bad idea to have a discussion about knitting with the person you're not having a relationship with (it's very, very complicated) right before you both fall asleep. It may lead to the following exchange:

Me: I can't knit you a sweater, though. It's cursed.
The Flirtation (so called because I can't think of anything else, and heretofore referred to simply as 'TF'): Huh?
Me: There's a Boyfriend Curse in knitting.
TF: You're going to have to explain that one.
Me: Well, it's a well accepted phenomena that a knitter will knit a sweater for her boyfriend and then they'll break up.
TF: Oh.
Me: But, then again, we don't even have a relationship, so you're certainly not my boyfriend, so you should be safe.

*kicks self*

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

*Waves*

I just wanted to let you all know (and by "all" I mean "the random person who manages to find this thing") that, while I have many things Knitting to tell you all about (and pictures!), the posting will have to wait until the weekend.

Real life has intruded.