Up for Air

Life has been hectic around Chez' Costumechick, but never fear! I am still alive! (and knitting. Albeit slowly...)

I managed to finish 2 projects, one which I didn't take pictures of. (dumb) The baby sweater turned out so cute, I could smack myself for not snapping a few pics before I gave it to Christina. Oh well. I guess I have to wait to see it on the little one...

I DID, however, take pictures of my latest Socktopia Socks!

Name: Fantastical

Yarn: Conjoined Creations, Flat Feet

Pattern: Inspired by Rib Fantastic Socks form "Knitting Socks with Hand painted Yarn"

Needles: Knit picks Classic Circulars, size 1 & 0

Notes: First off, let me tell you how much I love this book. Really. It's awesome. Even if I only use it for inspiration, the information and ideas are great. I was flipping through it, looking for an easy "I don't have to think too much, and can do it in the dark" pattern, when Rib Fantastic Socks caught my eye.

I had wanted to use my 'Flat Feet" for a while, and thought the pattern and yarn paired up nicely. When I read though the pattern it became obvious to me that the pattern was a little to difficult to be an "I don't have to think too much, and can do it in the dark" pattern. The knitting itself wasn't hard, just an all over lace pattern, but it was going to be hard keeping track of the uneven repeats in the foot. So, my options were to just knit the leg in pattern, and do a solid stockinette foot, or be a little more creative.

I chose "be a little more creative". I did one pattern repeat down he middle front of the leg and foot, with stockinette base for the foot. Once I reached the leg I did a k2p2k2p3 rib base. Other than that, I used my basic toe up formula and short row toe and heel. Just enough interesting stuff to keep me going, and not enough to keep me from knitting through movies and tech. Nice.

The yarn was weird to knit with at first. It's preknitted and hand painted, then you unravel it as you knit. It's super easy to take along, and really doesn't frog when you don't want it too. The act of pulling out another length of yarn is very cathartic. I had a good time going "RIIIIIIIIIIIP" knit knit knit "RIIIIIIIIIIP" knit knit knit. The weird part it the preknit bumps. Y'all have knit with yarn you have frogged, and it's weird because the bumps when you reknit never match the bumps from the first knit. It made my knitting look all weird and uneven.

Never fear! Blocking's here! A little soak and some time blocking fixed the problem (mostly). I wasn't worried, really, but I do like that I knit fairly evenly, and the weird bumps were driving me a little crazy.

Over all a very enjoyable take along project, perfect for Socktopia, and they fit great!

I must go. Two more weeks of insanity, then I will have more blogging, knitting, and (hopefully) resting time!