Farewell, for a while

So the last few weeks flew by so quickly that I didn't even have time to write up a post. I was knitting and crocheting along the way though.

I finished the January baby blanket, another pair of socks; I didn't do one last week, was asked to do some commission work for a family member, had a couple of snow days with the children and joined another KAL.

Here is the January baby blanket.

Based on the amount of yardage called for in the pattern and then the yarn I used, I used less yardage than was called for. I got away with using only one skein of each shade of blue, on the other hand it took almost two entire skeins of the white yarn. The yarn was to be cut at the end of each row to make fringe. The rows were still worked back and forth, not all from the same side as has been my experience in the past.

I finished two pairs that I haven't shared here yet. The white pair, actually has flecks of color here and there. I worked both of these socks at the same from each end of the center pull ball.

The green socks were worked one at a time because I had so much yarn wrapped around the outside of the ball that I couldn't find the other end. This up close picture shows the different colors in the yarn.

My brother in law and his wife, foster children, aged 4 years old and younger. They moved into a new house a couple of weeks ago. They have a 3 year old foster right now and have recently adopted one who is just over a year, as well as their 11 and 13 year old children. She asked if I could make some door knob covers as a safety feature. So I told her yes. She only needs two. I finished them quickly, but they are cute and get the job done.

One snow day with the children wasn't an official school snow day... We left and it was snowing rather hard, but not windy so visibility wasn't an issue. We were less than a mile from home and the van slid off the road. I was able to get it out and about 500 feet later we slid again, not off the road, but I decided that was enough fun for one day and we went home. The weather service had called for a trace, we received 18" of snow that day, before 2pm. Most of it has since melted off and we have been dealing with mud on the neighborhood roads, but thankfully the main road is dry. For our snow day we watched 7th Heaven, played Magic the Gathering and watched the lambs try to play in the snow.

We do have two lambs currently, as well as my eldest son's puppy. The lambs are outside with their mothers who are doing a decent job.  Chandler and Margret. Chandler is a week older than Margret, to the day. He was born on my youngest son's birthday, so that was special for him.

The parents; Lana, Chandler's mom, Chloe, Margret's mom and Whitney, dad to both.

Lana is a Navajo, Shetland X; Chloe is a Rambouillet, Shetland X; and Whitney is a Leicester Longwool. Lana and Chloe are half sisters a year apart, Chloe is older. Whitney is part of the rare, heritage breed club. His descends from the sheep in Williamsburg. I was lucky to get him at the Arapahoe County Fair almost two years ago.

I have been hard at work on my mom's shawl and it is going well. I have to stop here and there to add some to the chart, but I'm mostly staying ahead on the charting.

Ps 85:6 is still moving along.

On my Archa shawl I have now moved on to Chart 3 and it has cables. As far as the charting and basic instructions, this is a well written pattern. I didn't follow the line by line pattern so I can't speak for that. The only mistake I found, I will email June Cashmere about, is in Chart 3, they forgot the repeat lines. This for the most part isn't detrimental as the basic pattern is following what was set up in Chart 2 and the line by line is there with the repeats marked with * .

I have jumped full into my Brioche shawl by Stephen West.  I have almost finished the first ball of the main color. I will then measures and decide how many of the four balls I will use. The main yarn is from MJ yarns here in Sophistisock base in the Lafayette color way. The other colors are all left overs from socks I have made. Many of these little balls still have enough to make a pair of baby socks too!

With all the Magic games I have been playing with the children as of late I have almost finished my socks in the Hummingbird Moon yarn. I really like this yarn. It is a superwash BFL not the usual Merino. I needed something a bit sturdier as these are going to be for when I go walking. The memory of the BFL compared to the merino might be enough that I switch over to it all together. I have another hank of BFL from Leadingmen Fiber Arts in the Upside down color way, we'll see how that works up and then I'll decide. 

The new KAL I joined was totally spur of the moment. I had an email in my inbox from Maker's Mercantile the day the KAL started. I downloaded the pattern, didn't want to wait to order the recommended yarn and decided if I had something in stash that's what I would use. Maker's Mercantile suggested Zitron Infinito Yarn and at some point I will order some, but I came back from my stash with Road to China, Lace, silken jewels in verdite. This yarn is an alpaca, silk, camel, cashmere blend that is absolutely amazing. One person on the Ravelry group for this KAL called it luscious. I would completely agree. It is a bit lighter weight than what is called for. I also used a needle one size smaller than what is called for and cast on more stitches. It is going to be big and squishy!

So about the KAL. Maker's Mercantile is sponsoring it. It is over on their Ravelry group here. Franklin Habit is the one who did the work from a 19th Century lace pattern. It caught my interest because of the time period and because it has new decreases in it. I have already worked them out as a lefty and shared that with the Ravelry group. The pattern is free and can be found here in the Friday's with Franklin blog posts. Follow it on IG at #19centurykal .

Also in my inbox that sunny afternoon was the congratulations email from Leading men Fiber Arts! I was one of 75 selected to go on the retreat with them in September! I am so excited about this. It is going to be many firsts for me. First time on an air plane. First knitting retreat. First time away from home without any family, not helping someone in the hospital. First time in Illinois. So excited! I have met Steve and Andy before. Last year at the Estes Park Wool market and will see them there again this year, then again in September!

Then early last week I received an email that there is going to be another Yarn Fest, in Bend, Oregon in August! It was to let me know that I can send in class submissions, so that's been done. Another possible state! So that might be my first time on a plane...

In July I will be able to cross Wyoming and Montana off my list as well. I'm going on a missions trip to Lame Deer, Montana to minister to the Cheyenne people there. We are driving and will be gone for a week. My first missions trip!  This is going to be a year of firsts for me. I'm so excited about this too. My daughter might be going with me, if she can raise the money. The church ladies are getting together and knitting and crocheting hats and blankets for the people to have next winter. So much fun!

Here is a picture of the start of the February blanket.

I took this opportunity to do the work and take some pictures of what a difference hook size can make.  I used a larger hook than called for to work the foundation chain for this blanket.  It makes it easier to work into the chains and will actually make that first row lay better.

 

This post's title contains the word "farewell" for a reason.  I'm going to be gone for a while.  Surgrey is in 2 weeks and I'm not sure how often I'm going to make it to the library to post.  So farewell until April.  You can keep up with me on IG at Azariahs1982.

See you in the Spring!

Lace Surgery

A couple of months ago when I first got sick I was working on a surprise shawl for my mom. I haven't revealed the final design to any one outside of those who live in the house and I will continue to keep that to myself even now. What I want to talk about with this piece is the surgery I recently had to do on it. I put the piece away when it became clear that it wasn't going to be finished in time for her birthday, December 21. I put it away in mid-November so that I could finish other Christmas projects and because I was coming into an area that was, literally, uncharted.

When I came back to it earlier this month after the children returned to school I noticed that I suddenly had too much negative space in one area. I had also stopped in the middle of a row, in the middle of a pattern repeat and all. I was already out of it when I put it away. After that I had 2 ED visits that would have totally blown my goal, so putting it away for a while was a good decision and because I had made it earlier, much less depressing than it would have been if I had waited. Now I had to make another decision, could I live with this negative space?  As look across the picture you can see how the space gets larger as you go to the right.

I was still on the fence and going to ask my teenage daughter who also knits and my husband, he is very often the voice of reason for my projects. However, I didn't make it that far. One night after dance class I saw a post on IG from Ann Budd.  She dropped 60 rows of cabled knitting to fix a cable going the wrong direction.  That made my decision. If she dropped back 60 rows for a mis-twisted cable then I should fix this. Thank you Ann!

So the following Tuesday I dropped 12 stitches down 50 rows. That's 600 stitches total in lace work that is patterned on both sides. Worse case scenario, I have to rip and re-knit, 50 rows. Well a week and a half and 3 hours of work later, here it is.

I am pleased with this. The skill of being able to drop only a few stitches and rework them is an awesome one to have, but takes practice. The first time I tried this, it didn't work and I had to rip and re-knit. That is why you have to decide if it is worth it to you. I had to decide that on this go around because this was my first go at performing surgery on a piece that is patterned on both sides. I've done garter, plain, lace and color work but not on both sides. Below are pictures and the step by step walk through of how to do it.

First look at the piece and decide how far back you need to go. I used a double pointed needle (dpn), because it is small, to mark how far back I was going. I used dpns that are the same size as what I was knitting the piece with. Then I slid the needle through the stitches as best as I could tell so that the piece wouldn't ravel farther.

Then slip the stitches on your working needle to the other needle until you are at the stitches that you are going to drop. Drop those stitches as close to the dpn as you can get. At this point I used another dpn to rip that final row.

Here are my ripped rows and the dpn holding the stitches.

Even though this area of the piece is patterned on both sides, I decided to work all the stitches from the front, another advantage of a dpn. I found which row I was on and which stitch and started working from there. I'd work across the needle with another dpn, picking up the next thread. When I reached the end of the stitches, I picked up the next strand and worked onto the now empty dpn.

I always worked from left to right, because I am a lefty knitter, on every row. If you are going to work every row from the right side, then you will always work across the dpn from right to left. Similar to doing I-cord, but with a new strand each time.

Choosing which strand is next can be tricky. I always chose my next strand from the plain knit stitches on the right. Then I knew it was the next one. Choosing from the pattern stitches on the left I wasn't always sure, as sometimes they were twisted around each other, due to other stitch maneuvers.

Sometimes when you reach the end of the needle there is a lot of extra yarn left over.

I don't worry about this too much. It was the amount of yarn used before to make those stitches and will go back into place with blocking.

When you perform surgery like this, the stitches on the edge get pulled tight, they will take some of the yarn back. After a good blocking I haven't been able to find a "scar" in a piece on which I have performed surgery. 

You can see that the area here looks a bit sloppy, blocking covers a multitude of sins and this is no exception.

I'm a long ways from blocking but I will mark this section and take an after blocking photo and share it when I get there. My new goal for this shawl is Mother's Day. With my surgery and all coming I think that's realistic.

I want to include this picture of the chart just to show you what I am dealing with. Remember both right and wrong side rows are shown here.

I am still very much enjoying my 856 shawl to the point of distraction. I do think I may be getting a better handle on that though and switching up the projects I work on each day. One thing I did to curb myself a bit and force me to work on Archa, was to not download the new new chart for the next section. That gave me 2 nights working on Archa, which was a fruitful 16 Rows. The rows are getting longer though, just as the rounds on 856 are too.

I'm keeping up well on baby socks. I show my daughter each sock I finish, just to hear her say "Aw, I need to make some of those." Then I tell her "when you have finished the sock you're working on." She has been knitting the leg since Christmas...

My January baby blanket is going well. If I keep working at this pace it will be finished on the 31st and I have February all ready to go. Here is a picture of the yarn.

I also did some canning this week. Nothing spectacular, just some chicken broth, however I discovered a new, to me at least, trick. I cook the carcasses for the broth, let is cool slightly and then I put the broth in a 1 gallon pitcher. I place the pitcher in the fridge over night and all the fat rises to the top.  I remove the fat and then I can pour the broth into my jars.

 

Yes cold broth and cold but sterile jars. Lids on and into the cooker we go. It was because all the large lidded bowls were being used and the empty pitcher was on the counter and convenient.

Until next time keep stitching and stay warm or if you're in the southern hemisphere, stay cool and hydrated.

Happy New Year!

Happy New year everyone!

I hope that 2019 is getting of to a good start for you and if not I pray that you will be patient and learn from what you are going through.

Today I'm going to share my idea bag, new projects, baby socks and my thoughts on the race issue in the fiber arts world. First about my bag, it is part of me wanting to carry a sketch book and colored pencils with me, always. I will admit I'm still struggling with the always part, but it is getting better.

In my bag, which by the way was made for me by my best friend's mom, who is a quilter, thank you Pam! I have a sketch book, from my husband, a note book with the following inscription from my daughter...

A color wheel, a kaleidoscope, colored pencils, coloring book, pen, pencil, all things I had. My colored pencils and pencil are kept in a roll, made by my hubby for Christmas. The other small items are kept in an inside pocket. Everything else is in the large pocket, including the roll of pencils.

I think for the most part it is obvious what each item is used for. The notebook and pen I use to write down more details of my ideas that are in the sketch book and even ideas that are not. The coloring book is for a special kind of down time that doesn't happen often. Down time where I can't knit or crochet or spin because I'm too sick or something of that nature and just don't have the brain cells to do it. I color. I recently got this idea from @hummingbirdmoon She is an indie dyer in Boulder, Colorado that I follow on InstaGram. She was recently sick and posted a picture of something she was coloring with a comment about being too sick to dye and so coloring helps to see different color combinations that she could use in future dye jobs. I thought that was a great idea and added the yarn coloring book I had to my bag.

After carrying my bag for a couple of weeks now, some things that I think need to be added are, graph paper, pencil sharpener and a large eraser. I have extra of all these things I just need to find them and get then in the bag. They should all fit in the small inside pocket. My graph paper is for random ideas is on 3 x 5 note cards. They are awesome!

I started a KAL with the Herbert Niebling group on Ravelry. We began on January 1, 2019. I actually started just after midnight when we were finished blowing horns and drinking apple cider. I work on it for about half an hour and here is how far I got.

I have since worked on it a lot more and have changed needles 3 times. I went from the double pointed needles to a 12" circular to a 16" circular to a 24" circular. I really love the way this piece is going. It's a nice knit. I am using 100% baby alpaca, 2 ply lace weight yarn. I have 6 hanks for a total of 2622 yards. I bought it on clearance from webs the beginning of last year.

I have made progress on Archa and am still enjoying the knit, just distracted with the Niebling. I still plan to have it finished for the fashion show at Yarn Fest the end of March.

Here is an up close view of one of the stitch markers I was given for Christmas.  I love these little guys! They can be found here on Etsy.

Another project I started on January 2nd, because I forgot about it on the first, is baby blankets. I have a book that has a pattern for a crocheted baby blanket for each month of the year. I went through my acrylic stash and I had enough yarn to make all the blankets, except one. That was after giving so much of my acrylic stash away due to my allergy of it. My mom became allergic to it some years ago and now I am. She can't work with it at all or even wear it now. I can still work with it a little at a time, more if I take allergy meds. These blankets will be donated, I just don't know where to yet. Many of them are lap robe size and not in baby colors so there are possibilities. I know my church is also planning a state side mission trip, maybe they'll need that blankets. Here is a picture of what I have finished on January's blanket. It is turning out very pretty. It is also the one I had to buy a couple of skeins of yarn for.

I have completed 3 pairs of baby socks, although the last pair wasn't a matching pair. I only had one ball of each color of the yarn. So I could still work 2 socks at the same time in the 4 parts, leg, heel, foot and toe, like the other pairs I decided to work one in one color and the other in another color. The gray is a bit lighter weight of yarn than traditional sock yarn. It is also an alpaca and nylon blend and won't survive the washer. I will have to find a special place for them. The lime green is super wash merino that I dyed. The adult socks made from it went to my mom.

As promised I have put up the page with how to work the above pattern on 4 needles.

So I come to this conversation late. I "walked" into the middle of this conversation late last week and was completely lost.  @hunthammersen posted a blog over the weekend that helped to "catch me up" a bit, but my internet time is limited and to read all that she suggested was going to take a while.  I didn't realize that race was an issue in the fiber world.  I've not seen it personally.  The blog post that started all this I haven't read but I can see the problem with the title and talking about her trip to India the way she did.  The majority of Americans would have the same fear of traveling to other countries because of the comfort and ease we have here in the states.  Most Americans, especially those of the younger generations don't know how good we have it here.  My issue with the race thing on any topic is the blame game and lack of responsibility.  An entire race is blamed in many cases for what is happening or not happening.  The one that others are up set with never speaks for the whole.  Those that are upset, what are you doing to help the situation?  Just throwing out more accusations and feeding the fire isn't educating anyone on the real problem.  My silence on this situation on IG will remain.  This blog post is the only place where I will address this.  One IG story speaks of the privileges we have and how they can be swords. One privilege that many have, that I don't is internet access, which is why I won't know the whole story.  To post my blog I go to the nearest library, 20 miles away or coffee shop, 35 miles from home.  My family lives in a very rural area and we don't have access to internet, cell phone signal or TV at an affordable rate.  Yes, I do own a cell phone.  Most of my IG posts are done from my phone, when I take the children to the bus stop, 10 miles away.  That is also the small amount of time I have to read what's going on on IG.

As for my personal experience with the fiber world and prejudice, I have little but I do have some.  There is more than one knit shop I was made to feel unwelcome in because of how I dress or even the yarn I was asking for.  Not high enough society.  From the positive side though I do have a couple of good experiences.  One of my first lys was owned by a poc.  She had other adventures to pursue and so the shop is no longer around.  The winner of the fastest knitter contest for Boulder county this past year is also a poc.  In the crochet group that I'm part of in North Aurora, there are many poc, many colors.  North Aurora is a very diverse place and that is where I grew up.  Even though I no longer live there, it is still home for me.  My mom and grandmother still live in the same neighborhood I grew up in, off of Colfax and I-225.  I am a person who is more likely to notice lack of color than to be uncomfortable if I'm the only white girl.  We were the only white family in the neighborhood.

Just remember, one doesn't speak for all, we can all do our part to help the situation.  I will pray for the situation and guidance on what I should do.  If we would just do as the Bible says and much of the world has adopted, then we'd all be better off.

Luke 6:31

Just as you want men to do to you, you do to them likewise.

Happy New Year everyone.  Keep stitching!  Until next time...

Happy Belated New Year, a look back at 2018

I apologize for my tardiness, this was supposed to be out last week, but I got sick again and couldn't leave the house.

Well here we are, my last post of 2018. I can hardly believe it, the time went by so quickly. I had to go back to my Ravelry projects to see what I worked on early this year.

I had a lot, a lot of UFOs from many, many years past and I decided it was time to tackle them. At least make some decisions on whether to rip, save or give away as is.

My back to school mittens that I started back in 2011, I decided to stop where I was. I had completed one mitten and made a thumb, that's all. The thumb I ripped and put the yarn into the appropriate box and the completed mitten I decided would be useful in my education demos, so in to the ed box it went.

I did this with each item I came across in a bag and most were ripped. I didn't give anything away in the UFO state. I still have many started and unfinished ideas around in all stages, thus goes the work of designer I suppose.

The projects I worked early in 2018 were Spring Leaves Returns, this was prep for a class I taught at the Estes Park Wool Market in June. 

Glory and I also started our Make It With Wool projects in March. This sweater and my Brioche shawl took most of my time at home. On the road I was working on socks and spindle spinning.

The one thing I really wanted to focus on in 2018 was time management and my social media. It took me until almost August to really get a handle on this and know how to apply it and use it, but I love it! Now that Christmas projects are finished I can't wait for the children to go back to school so that I can get into my normal routine again.

In my "schedule" I made time for each craft I wanted to do, the things I "have" to do and also time for learning and Spiritual growth as well. As you can see from the picture below of my one of my schedules, I switch activities often, this helps me to stay focused while on each activity, even if I'm at a place in it that is not as much fun, like the heel of a sock or the final section of tech editing.

I have 3 processing sessions each day. No not for processing stress and life, but for processing fiber. I am currently processing my lamb fleece, so that I can spin it for 2019 Make It WIth Wool. This helps my hands not get as tired and I don't get as board or distracted in the short interval. I have accomplished more in the last 4-5 months than I have in the last 2 years. If you are going to have a "schedule" you have to remember to be flexible and that it is only a guideline to keep you focused and get more done, NOT to cause stress.

Something I try to spend time on each week is weaving and I had fun with that this year. I wove only one thing, a large scarf. It was from some of my own hand spun and I learned so much. I talk more about that here.

My favorite finished project this year was this jacket.  I put a tassel on the hood a couple of weeks ago and I love this jacket.  This winter has been very mild for Colorado and I have gotten to wear it often.

The oldest UFO that I finished this year was a quilt that I pieced the top of back in 2010 or 11...  After we moved to the middle of nowhere I pieced the back and sewed the strips for the binding.  I've had the batting for about 2 years, it all just sat.  I decided to finish it for Christmas for my DH.  He loved it.  It is a log cabin quilt.  I tied it and only quilted the last border.  It is a queen size.

 

For my birthday I received a crocheted potholder from my best friend's mom. She is always talking about how she wished she could crochet better. When I saw the pot holder I started to laugh. She looked at me. I stopped laughing and explained that though I have tried and tried this is one pattern I have not yet been successful with. She sent me the link to the website she used. My friend helped me to download it to my phone so I could work at home. A few days later I took out my cotton yarn, my hook and my phone. An hour later here is what I had!

I'm so excited now that I can do this. I plan to work more of these.

Another thing that I did for much of 2018 was to have a project that I could work on a little a couple times a week and have a finished object by the end of the week. For 2018 it was dishcloths. I finished more than there are in this picture.

I gave them all away as Christmas presents. For 2019 I have decided to make baby socks and am challenging all of you to do so as well. I have broken to working of a sock into 4 pieces and am working 2 socks at the same time from 2 different balls of yarn and on 2 different sets of needles. Here is a picture of the first pair. Below that you'll find all the info for my baby sock challenge.

Azariah's Baby Sock Challenge 2019

Socks are fun and can be as simple and mindless or as detailed and challenging as you would like.  I want to encourage everyone to at least try socks and so I have decided to have some fun and challenge you guys.

#azariahsbabysockchallenge

#azariahsbabysockchallenge(month abbreviation)

Make a pair of baby socks, socks that will fit someone a year old or younger, to give away, not sell.  Follow me on IG and tag your entry with the 2 # tags above.  The second one will change each month and that is how I will draw for prizes.  I will draw for the winner, using a random number generator on the 1st day of the following month and post the winning pair.  All entrants are subject to my discrection.  All rules of tagging and size must be followed to quailify.  Any baby sock pattern may be used for this challenge, tag the designer so they get credit too.  Prizes will be shipped any where in the world and will be different each month, but sock related.

The pattern I am using is this one, it is on page 39, worked on 2 circular needles and closed with Kitchner stitch.  I work it on 4 double pointed needles.  I will post my changes for that next week. This pattern takes about 30 yards of fingering or sock weight yarn and I am using US size 3 needles.

The final thing that I'll talk about that I did in 2018 was to always have a pair of idiot socks going. My birthday in 2017 I received a small backpack, again from my BFF's mom. I put a rivet in the side a run my yarn through it and the sock is in the outside pouch. I finished many pairs this way, always had something to do to kill time or stay focused during church. I will continue this but not always in my backpack sometimes in my rainbow colored alpaca bag from Slipped Stitch Studios. Never without needlework.

I thank you for taking the time to read what I write. I hope that it gives you some inspiration and ideas. Happy handwork and Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you in 2019.

Looking ahead to 2019

Each year I like to set some goals and write down ideas of some things I'd like to learn and implement in the next year.  I do some of this in October with my birthday and then I do A LOT as many do around this time of year, the end of one year and the start of another.  I do this in many areas of my life, some of which are faith, food and fiber.
For 2019 I would like to learn how to tablet weave and do bobbin lace.  I plan to start stashing all new fiber and yarn acquisitions on Ravelry.  I want to launch a fiber arts guild in eastern Colorado.  I have a list of designs I want to finish, currently in all different stages.  Then I have a list of projects I want to finish.  That's mostly what this post will be about.  Some of these projects were started long ago and some are waiting. I am also going to start carrying and sketch book and colored pencils so that I can capture ideas on the fly.

First of all I have this little piece here.  I only made it through round 20 and decided that the needles and yarn were too small, so I ripped it out.  Having recently finished that little doily, I'm not ready for something that small again yet.  It was a sample in preparation for a larger project that will be started on January 1, 2019.  It is part of a KAL with a Ravelry group called Herbert Niebling.  For more info on the group click here.  It has been ripped and put away.  Here is a picture of the new yarn for another sample doily on the left.

The yarn I have chosen for the larger piece that we start on New Year' is on the right..
I have never done any of Herbert's lace pieces before and am very much looking forward to this.

Back in August I started the Faberge shawl, 3 times, because it took that many times to get the cast on correct.  Well, I have to rip it out now.  I used the colors in the opposite places that I should have.  The brown should be the overlay and the variegated green the background.  So I will rip and then begin again.  Haven't decided when to restart yet.

My DH recently received a promotion and a raise.  He promised me a kit from June Cashmere.  On small business Saturday this year, June Cashmere offered a free pattern to those who bought yarn from their local yarn shop.  I took advantage of the opportunity and DH made good on his promise.  I bought 2 skeins of their lace weight in the curry colorway.  I got my download code from Longmont Yarn Shoppe and downloaded the Archa shawl pattern for free.  Thank you June Cashmere!  This one I plan on starting after I finish Christmas knitting; sort of a reward.  If I finish early enough and the children are still in school I can cast on at my favorite coffee shop too!

This will be the first year that I celebrate Roc day.  I will start spinning the remaining fiber from Chloe's lamb fleece for my surprise jacket, which I will then enter into the 2019 Make It With Wool Contest.  I have spun about 6oz of this fiber so far during Spinzilla 2018.  I have a long ways to go.

One design idea that I have that I'll share at the moment is to make a hooded cowl.  Much like what Arrow wears.  The yarn I currently have for that is a new one I bought at Piney Creek Yarn shop.

I have learned how warm wool, alpaca and yak really are.  I love my cowl, gloves and socks.  I have plans to make more things to keep warm.  I have a pair of color work mitts I started some time ago.  I really want to have a third color in them but am having trouble getting it in there the way I want.  I have found a website that I will do some more digging in and am hoping to achieve the look I want.  I want pink to be on only the flower.  I'll update here as that progresses.

I have plans for another cowl too.  I got some yarn over the weekend from Longmont Yarn Shoppe, I had a reward and some Bandit bucks to redeem, so I did.  It is 4 different colors of lace weight from Malabrigo.  It will be a ripple, with a bit of lace and a gradient look to it.

I will continue on the items that are currently wips such as diamonds and pearls, the wedding shawl and alpaca after dark.

In my final post this year I will look back on 2018 and show the larger finished projects, discuss the goals I had set and if I met them and show my favorite finished object for the year.

Socks, Socks, Socks

I love knitting socks.  This hasn't always been the case.  The first adult sock that I knit, is a loner, no mate.  Big surprise.
I made a few mistakes, too small of needles and too thin of yarn, so the sock took forever!
My next disaster yielded a PAIR of socks.  Still wrong materials, but I still use these guys.  They are made of 100% merino wool, doesn't wear well at all.  I wore through one of the heels.  I recently decided to mend it and now I wear them for an hour or so after my pedicure and that's it. Merino
A few years ago some new neighbors moved in and the wife was a knitter!  Yea!  She loves to knit socks and felt I needed to knit them too.  So we picked out a wonderful pattern that I have used more than once, Owlie.
We knit them together, her right handed and me left, following the chart.  I chose smaller needles and more stitches, but they came out pretty much the same size.   Here are mine.  She didn't put hers on her Rav page and she has since moved so I can't get a picture of them.  She showed me that knitting socks is all about numbers, and they are easy numbers too, the same ones every time even.  Now I find a pattern or stitch I like and just plug it into my formula that fits me.

US size 1.5 needles
Finger weight yarn
Cast on 72 sts or close there of.
Work 12 rnds of cuff if one isn't written.
Work 60 rnds of pattern unless it is closer to a garter pattern, then it takes more rnds.
Work my heel flap across 36 sts, for 36 rows. I have recently learned eye of partridge and love it.
Work the gusset as written here.
Dec back down to 72 sts.
Work foot until I have a total of 60 rnds.
Work toe dec until the ere only 24 sts rem.
Kitchener closed.

This opened a door though.  We then joined the Tour de Sock and Sock Sniper the next year.  I then decided to be adventurous and try a pair of toe up socks.  The were given to a friend under going chemo at the time.  Stage 4 breast and ovarian cancer.  The Lord still has work for her here.  Here are the socks.  Not my favorite way to work.

I have since tried doing toe up socks again and I just don't get it.  I understand the knowing of having enough yarn for the foot and making a shorter leg if necessary.  My thought on that is the foot is the part in the shoe and not seen as publicly as the leg.  I'd rather have a longer leg, run short on yarn for the foot and have to make the toe in a different color.  Another way to avoid running short on yarn, especially for sock 2, is to divide the yarn that you have in half.  Wind each half into it's own ball, working one sock from each ball.  There are other advantages to this as well.  When you reach the hell of sock one, if you have another set of needles, you can start sock 2 and do the heel at a more convenient time.  Or just work both socks simultaneously.
The casting on for toe up is quick using Judy's magic cast on.  That I love.  It is very fiddly though until you have about 6 stitches on each needle, that's takes some time.
For me it has been hard to get a foot that fits working toe up socks.  My first try at the Port socks ended up ripped because the foot was too short.  Now I did do some math and my notes from cuff down and was able to get a foot that fit.  Having done all the work and knowing all my numbers for cuff down I don't see a benifit for me to change.  Here are the links to the final 2 Port socks projects, one done left handed and the other Portuguese knit.  Port 2a  Port 2b This pattern will be available in my Rav store soon.  One sock is worked from the cuff down and the other is worked from the toe up.  Both use the same charts.  It is a pattern I put together for a sock anatomy class I hope to teach soon.

Caring for socks is very easy to do if you put some thought in to the project first.  First of all think about who you are making them for and how they will wear them.  My mom and grandmother only wear theirs around the house and to bed.  I wear mine in my shoes, even my sneakers.  I know of one knitter's husband who wears his running every morning, for 5 miles.  She using Corridale yarn for those and they are holding up.
My mom loves the merino, cashmere, nylon base sock yarn.  She hand washes her and my grandmother's socks.  My favorite base is super-wash merino, nylon.  I throw all those in the washer AND dryer.  I do have a few of hand wash only pairs, before I knit socks like an addict.  For hand wash socks, alpaca, merino and other non super-wash blends, I fill a pot, sink or whatever is handy with warm water and some Eucalan no rinse soap.  I drop the socks in and swish gently as these are feltable fibers and not in the washer for a reason.  I leave them to soak until the water has cooled, then spin out the excess water and lay flat to dry.  To spin out the water you can use the washing machine set so that no water comes in or use a salad spinner.
So choose the fiber in the base with the recipient in mind, not only how they will wear them, but how much time it will take to care for them.
If they are for children, who's feet grow so quickly I don't even make then socks, then just make tubes with no heel.  Then they will fit a while longer.  I also do this for someone who's shoe size I don't know.

Speaking of heels, there are many heels out there that can be worked on most patterns.  The newest one I learned is the short row heel.  I may like it better than the heel flap I have been working for so long.  I haven't finished that pair of socks yet and therefore don't know how it will feel on my foot, but I know the knitting of it is very quick.
You can also do an after thought heel.  To do this, when you get to where the heel would be put in, pick up some scrap yarn and knit across what would be the heel stitches.  Re-knit those stitches in pattern using the sock yarn and continue on to finish the sock.  Then come back and pick up stitches on each side the scrap yarn.  Remove the scrap yarn so the you have live stitches for your heel.  Now work a decrease similar to that of the toe.  I don't like this one because it comes out too pointy.

Socks wear better when always worn on the same foot.  So how do you know which sock goes on which foot?  In my socks that go on the right foot I a small 7 stitch by 3 round purl section.  It makes a bump that can be seen by the eye but not felt by the foot.

This morning when I put my socks on I couldn't remember if they were a hand wash pair or not, they are but I had to look up the yarn,  In future when I knit socks from a hand wash yarn I will put another kind of mark on one of the socks so I know immediately.

I store my socks, rolled up in pairs in plastic, lidded totes.  Each of these totes holds a dozen pairs, please don't judge me.

I have been knitting socks like crazy since that wonderful neighbor got me hooked back in 2014.  I always have at least one pair on the needles if not more.  I don't have all of them on my Ravelry page, but most of them are there now since I have decided to post anything that takes a week or longer on my Rav page.  I was keeping all the little bits of yarn left over so that I could darn my socks.  Then when it came to it, I decided not to darn them.  I have so many new pairs to wear, why not rip out the worn socks and re-knit them into something new?  Now my little left over bits are going into a Stephen West shawl, I get the pleasure of not only the yarn, but the memory of that pair of socks.  Either who I made the socks for, where I was when I made them or places I have worn them to.  I'm excited about this.

I went to rip out my first 2 pairs of socks and it did not work. Boo!  The bottoms were so felted that ripping is going to be impossible.  So instead I have started a box to collect my socks that are beyond foot wear.  My idea now is to use them as pieces of fabric to make crazy cloth for other finished objects, like bags or hats maybe.  Still just an idea, but I am excited about it.

I'm not here to change anyone's mind, I just want to share my sock experience.  In hopes of getting everyone to at least TRY socks, for 2019 I am going to host #azariahsbabysockchallenge on Insta Gram.  Baby socks are smaller and faster than full grown socks.  They take small amounts of yarn and can be done in any color.  For the challenge I would like all socks to be either donated or gifted, but not sold.  My goal is to make a pair a week and then they will be donated to the Women's Resource Center in my area.  There are many free patterns available on Ravelry.  I will draw for a prize once a month.  Any other info will posted on my IG Azariahs1982 the end of December.  Yes I am copying what Yarnhoarder did with dishcloths, sorry.