Sunday, June 1, 2008

My Cheatin' Heart


Shhhhhh.... don't tell my editor this, but yesterday my husband and I took a short road trip, and the current sock book sock is too complicated for car knitting, and there are no uncomplicated socks left to knit for the book, and I can't be in a car without knitting... sooooooo..... I wound the Ravelry 3-ply handspun yarn (from yesterday's post) into a ball and cast on a sock for me. Not for work, not for publication (except here, which doesn't count in the publication-sense). Just for fun. For me...


Though the yarn is 21WPI, it still felt too heavy for small needles, so I cast on with Size 3 needles (54 sts, 15 rnds K3P3), and then started the cuff. I didn't get very far before I realized that the fabric was too loose. I tore it out and dropped to Size 2 (3.0 mm) needles. That's what you see in the pic. But, I think that might still be too loose. I won't tear out the ribbing, but I think I am going to rip the cuff, and drop back to 2.75 size 2's (and inc 2 sts to 56, which is the low end of my normal fingering weight sock number). Right now I'm getting 7 sts to the inch and that doesn't feel tight enough to wear well.


The yarn is knitting up in lovely narrow stripes, and it's more bouncy than I expected. The sheen is gorgeous and I love the colors. I doubt my pair will match, stripewise, because I wasn't consistent when I tore strips from the roving for spinning, but they'll match well enough to be called a pair.


Since I am not going on a road trip today, I'll stay true to the Book What Brung Me. But I hear the siren call of The Other Sock, and I am sorely tempted to cheat again.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's really beautiful yarn! I totally understand the cheatin' heart thing. I should be working on the sweater for my son's birthday in just a month. Alas, the "other project" keeps calling my name...

Deb said...

How in the world do you manage to knit on DPN's in the car? I have knitted socks on the magic loop & on 2-Cirs, but have never managed to figure how to knit on DPN's in the car, because I'm so afraid of losing or dropping a needle. I guess practice a lot? Love you socks & your blog!

Cara said...

Good for you! Everybody needs a break once in a while, and that yarn is gorgeous!
Hey, I have a question: I've been reading Yarns to Dye For, and I'm loving every minute of it. But am I understanding right that you still have to heat set the dye after you soak the yarn in hot dye water while you're dyeing it? I can understand needing to heat set after hand-painting or other cold techniques, but for techniques that involve heating the yarn and the dye while the dyeing happens, why isn't that heat enough to set it? Is it because there's still too much water around for the dye to set?
Thanks again for this book (I'm the one who won it in your giveaway)--I really love it. It's very clear and well-written, and the level of detail is perfect. I plan to do a glowing review on my blog when I finish reading it. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

this is Kathleen- I'm using a different computer this morning, and I can't get it to recognize me...


thanks teish- it's hard to stay faithful to one project evenwith a deadline.

deb- I only use dpns for socks (I'm in the minority, I know). I'm a prop and throw kntiter and I can't prop circs on small projects.

cara- in order for dye to be set, the water has to be near boiling for at least several minutes. If that happens asyou dye, then you don't need additional heat


setting, but if you're handling the yarn,then the water isn't hot enough. As long as you don't boil the water, and you handle the yarn carefully,l you won't felt the yarn, so additional heat setting is good insurance. Have fun!