Baby Knitting (not for me)

So now that we've see all the '09 sock fails. Let's talk about some successes.

My friend Ellen, who you've heard about before*, had a baby. A really cute baby. Now, we know the baby knitting rules. If you were in the wedding party, baby gets a gift. If not, baby maybe gets a gift. Ellen falls into the former of these two categories, so a gift was happening.

Since I'm notorious for taking longer than necessary to knit things, I typically start to plan these things from the moment the news is first announced, and finish them two months after the baby arrives. This time was no different. I bought the yarn in Maine this summer. Cast on just about the same time little Shelby arrived (actually hours before I received the email in some creepy psychic sort of way), finished just before Christmas, and sent it off in the mail on New Year's Eve.

Ellen, in classic style, sent a hardcopy photo of Shelby in her sweater, which arrived back here by January 8th. If we were TV sitcom roomates, she'd be the smart on-the-ball one, and I'd be the one with the best intentions who can't quite get it all together. Pretty much living together was just like that. :)

The knitter's among you will recognize this as Elizabeth Zimmerman's iconic Baby Surprise Jacket. One of which I have knitted before. Same comments, the women is brilliant. The pattern is fun. It must be for me to have knit it twice.

The yarn is a rare gem, purchased in a small shop in Bar Harbor, ME, which had just recently opened. It's called Superstar, by a company called Starcroft fibers. It's superwash, so it's baby friendly. I bought it on a day off from our busy field season. The deal was, I'd give the grad students a day to visit the National Park, but they had to take me to the yarn store! Since then I haven't been able to find a website for the store, but it's right downtown and hard to miss.

I used almost all of two balls (one in teal and one in nutmeg), on size 4 needles. The colors at the shop were limited in the gender neutral sense, I thought this combo would work. I used a random striping pattern, first by flipping a coin, then by making a random list in excel. I picked up stitches around the neck and did a picot bind-off to make it just a little girlie, since by then we knew she was a she. The buttons were a happy coincidence from my button stash. Nothing fancy, just shell buttons available at most craft stores, but they picked up the yarn colors nicely. All in all a classic, cute, squishy BSJ!

* No, the afghan is not done, but we are up to 26 of the 99 squares. Coming out with that fact is making me think that it needs to be next on the finish it up list.

The cankle socks

The final sock fail of 2009.

The cankle socks.

I don't mean to be mean in any way. The socks just look like they have no ankles, so in our house they have been dubbed the cankle socks. Really, they are the Butterflies and Berries Socks from a long-ago purchased kit. This is some of the first "real" sock yarn I purchased. Back when I was crocheting socks rather than knitting them. Back when I was hording yarn for some reason. Back before the blog was anonymous and went under a different name. Back in 2005 to be exact. As one of my knitting friends is fond of saying, "yarn is like wine, you need to age it". Well, this was good and aged.

I bought the yarn with the intentions of crocheting some socks for myself, it was on sale (cheaper than it's listed now I'm sure) and I figured that the pattern was just something I'd keep or pass onto a friend who did knit socks. Well, I conquered DPNs and have long abandoned crocheted socks*.

Technically, there is nothing wrong with these socks. They are a really fun knit, and the yarn is very nice. The pattern is easy enough to follow, memorize, etc. Everything I'm looking for in a sock.

Here's the but you all knew was coming: The foot portion is just too large in circumference. Hence the cankle designation. The pattern calls for size 2 dpns. I usually knit socks on a size 1 or smaller. For this design, the stranded butterfly stitch doesn't have the give that a normal knitted fabric would have, actually it pulls in some, so going up a needle size is prudent. It all works out fine on the calf portion. But keeping with the larger size on the eyelet portion is a mistake. Eyelets are lace and make a knit fabric stretch even more than it would normally. So we have the following formula:

normal knitting + extra eyelet stretch + bigger needles = cankles [eqn.1]

To correct this, I would perform a simple modification:

normal knitting + extra eyelet stretch + smaller needles = good fit [eqn 2]

You see, by a simple change of needle size we solve the problem. Theoretically, that is, I have not tested this theory on a second pair of socks. Although I have enough yarn leftover that I just might. I would simply just switch to smaller needles before the heel flap portion and I think all would be well.

In any case, here are the stats.

Pattern: Butterflies and Berries Socks by Debbie O'Neill available from The Knitter as a kit.
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild Raspberry. I have alot leftover. I like the yarn. It shed some color in blocking. The mohair content gives it a little fuzz that I enjoy.
Needles: size 2 bamboo dpns
Mods: I found the little shell rib to be pretty, but annoying to work, so I only did 3 repeats of it instead of the five. Similarly I reduced the number of pattern repeats in the ankle portion. I did 6 instead of 8. Also in the foot, fewer reps because I have small feet, which also required I eliminate some rows in the toe.

The end result is some warm and fuzzy house socks, which was nice since we had a freeze here and it was unpleasantly cold.

Like I said, 2009 was a bad year for socks.

*For making, not wearing that is. Hub has a vintage '05 on his feet right now. They hold up let me tell you.

Being a Judge

One of the great things about being a science professor (even at the assistant level) is that sometimes we are asked to participate in really great events. I'm at a state institution, so tax money supports some (or possibly all) of my salary. Which to me means, not only do I do my job, but I should give back to the community whenever I have the opportunity to do so. So when I was asked to do this, I readily agreed. Some faculty think these things are a burden, and in some cases I would agree. This, however, was not, actually, it was kind of fun.

The Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium is a DOD sponsored program to get high school students involved in science. The regional symposium, which is the state-wide level, is held at my institution each year. Students from all over the state present original research to compete for a scholarship and the chance to go to the national competition. One of the many opportunities this program provides is feedback from practicing scientists (like me!). By serving as a judge, I interact with students by asking them questions about their research projects and hopefully provide positive feedback on their work. Students get not only involved in science at a very real level, but learn communication skills as well.

Holy cow, these kids are smart! Some of the projects in other fields like chemistry and microbiology went right over my head. One girl was doing research closely aligned with something I just got a grant to do! I was seriously impressed. Weather you are a parent, a scientist or a lay person, I would encourage you to get involved in this program, or something similar. For a brief moment, I got a glimpse of the future, and it isn't as bleak as TV news would lead us to believe.

Why would I say to get involved? Well there are a couple of reasons, the main one being that it is these kids that will eventually make the discoveries that may save lives, or discover something new. That alone is is worthy cause. The other reasons are a little sadder, but still very valid:

As great as this program is, not a single competitor was from a regular public high school. Magnet schools and private institutions only. These kids were smart and curious by nature, but they were successful in getting to this level because of their parents' economic status. Poor kids are smart too. So are middle-class kids for that matter. And as judges, we don't care if they did the research at their parents' fancy biotech firm lab, or in their garage. We care about how they did it, and how well they understand it.

If you are in a position to do so, get the word out. It doesn't cost anything to apply. The high school doesn't have to do anything, parents can do this on there own. So can teachers: start a program, incorporate it into your teaching, make a science club, whatever! Even if you just give the program information to one kid, you might change a life, and that life can change the future.

And finally, this program is sponsored by the DOD, so it will keep going on some level, but the people who run the regional competitions are mostly paid by universities. My university is in the midst of a budget crisis, as most state institutions are. Here, that budget crisis is exasperated by a series of bad political decisions and a lack of public support. Half of the judges, you know, the practicing scientists for kids to see, will very likely see pink slips next week. They are in teaching positions that will be cut. Which means, not only will the high school kids lose out in the future, but the college kids too. If you are in a state where things like this are happening, call your representative!!! Without education, our society can't progress forward. Without funding, education can't survive.

The pick me up scarf

Here's a quickie little knit-update.

Way back when. I took a sad trip to the yarn store and was seduced by that gorgeous bright alpaca. When it made it's blog debut, it had been a few rows of the lace ribbon scarf, from Knitty. Well it turns out that that pattern isn't so great for following in a crowded airport, and by the time I got home, it was completely flubbed up. The poor yarn went through 3 more attempts to become scarves in the intervening months. I think one was from Knitting New Scarves, I have a vague recollection that one was My So Called Scarf, one was something I made up. Nothing was really making me completely happy, there was pooling, blah blah. Finally before the move last year, it too was completely frogged and the poor yarn was put back in the stash.

A month or so after the move, I was feeling the need for the bright colors again and I rewound the ball, so all that kinky yarn would be at the end and I sat down determined to make it work. Same needles, different pattern and voila:

It took most of a year, knitting a few rows here and there when I needed to feel a little cheery. Sometimes it came to knit night when there was nothing else easy enough to work while chatting and sometime last fall it was done, and pressed right into service. I call it the pick me up scarf. It is soft and bright and everything the yarn promised it would be.

If you have some yarn that needs to be something like this here's what to do:

Cast on 33 stitches.

Row 1: K3, K2, *yo, sl 1, k2tog, psso, yo, k1; rep from * to last four stitches, K1, slip 3 stitches purlwise wyif.

Row 2: K3, purl to last three stitches, slip 3 stitches purlwise wyif.

Row 3: K3, K2tog, yo, k1, *yo, sl 1, k2tog, psso, yo, k1; rep from * to last 6 stitches, yo, sl 1, psso, k1, slip 3 stitches purlwise wyif

Row 4: K3, purl to last three stitches, slip 3 stitches purlwise wyif.

Rep these 4 rows until you run out of yarn. Bind off, wet block and enjoy.

That's it, easy peasy.

Let me know if you make one, or have troubles with the pattern!

Blog action

I'm doing my bit to spread the knit-sign. Go read here. The situation in Haiti is bad. A colleague has colleagues there, some really great folks who came here to visit not so long ago and provided a wonderful experience for students here. We should help. I did my bit, it was little, but it was something. A lot of little can add up. Spread the word.

Navy Toes the Line

Last Fall (2008). I started a pair of socks for Hub. He likes socks and has unlimited patience when it comes to my long-time projects.

This is what they looked like circa October 2008.

I know the first one was finished before the end of 2008 as I alluded to an unfinished pair in my sock wrap up. Why the second one sat for so long I don't really know. For a while it was buried in the bottom of my knit-night knitting bag, below the Anastasia's and a Clapotis (Yes, I tried again. Don't ask.) Then it moved into the house for a while and just mocked me. It came to Germany in October, in the car to New Orleans in November, to Texas in November, and finally a finishing kick took over when I was sick mid-December.

Behold the shooting sock. Really that's it's name.

Pattern: Gentleman's Shooting Stockings with Fluted Pattern by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks. My favorite sock book ever, this is my 4th pattern from it.
Yarn: Regia 4-ply sock. Color 1042, 2 balls, plus a little Brown Sheep Wildfoote).
Needles: US size 0 (maybe that's why they took so long!)

The pattern has good calf shaping and the little triangles continue down the heel flap. That is really the only difficult part of the whole thing. Other than that it's a classic well-written fun to knit pattern.

But wait, a successful pair of socks in 2009??? Wrong. Look a little closer:

Notice anything? That's right, toe number 2 is a different color. I ran out of yarn with 14 rounds left. 14 blipping rounds. The first sock took exactly one ball. The second one took some extra Brown Sheep Wildefoote that came from deep in the sock yarn leftovers bucket. There isn't a noticeable difference in size, so I don't think it was a gauge issue, but in a year of socks like last one, who knows.

Oh well, hub is happy and it feels good to wipe this one off the WIP list.

Twisted Sister

So as you probably figured, there were no socks for Shelly's birthday. I was, however, determined to knit her some socks this year. So I ordered some yarn*.

Enter, Pomatomus, and the wonderful Online Supersocke 100. Ahh, finally a sock yarn like a sock yarn should be, soft, sturdy, perfect gauge, classic. This is going to be great. Well, once I get past this twisted rib cuff. It is a little annoying, but it looks nice and it's just the cuff.....

WRONG! Those damn twisted stitches are what make the pattern pop so nicely, and they run the WHOLE LENGTH OF THE SOCK, even on the heel flap!

Oh well, I'm flying alot for the summer, the pattern has a bit of a rhythm to it. I'll suck it up, because they are soft and they look soooo pretty.

Sock # 1 stalled somewhere mid-gusset because the ink on the copy of the pattern I had been dragging all over the country had worn thin on the crease and I could no longer read the chart. By the time I picked them up again it was late November and I thought I'd finish them up by Christmas. I boldly cast on for the second one and just read the chart, not the pattern. I didn't remember that you need to move stiches around between each reapeat of the chart and after the first rep, I just couldn't ever get it right. Like a blind fool I just fudged it all along. To the end.


These have the distinction of having the most mistakes in any FO I've ever called done. It's been that kind of sock year. Luckily you can't really tell and I hope Shelly will love them anyways. I got sick right before the holiday so they didn't make it in the mail until New Year's Eve.

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A. from Knitty
Yarn: OnLine Supersocke 100, florida colors, color 1128 (I have alot left), purchased from the Woolery, where the customer service was top-notch.
Mods: My own fixing as I went
Needles: Size 1 DPNS

And for my northern blog-reading contingent, photo date December 20, 2009. Roses in my backyard. Take that!

*Well, that's not really how it happened. I needed some more bobbins for my wheel and the yarn was on sale and it would make the free shipping minimum and well, my sock knitting clearly needed a kick in the butt.

It was a bad year for socks...

This is the time of year I do my sock round up. It's a little harder this year. Here's why.

The other day I cast off a sock, showed it to my husband and said: "what do you think?"

He replied: "It looks like a sock for cankles"

Which was a very appropriate end to my year in socks. It's just been one of those years.

First, there were the Anastasia Socks. They were my third and final attempt at toe-up socks. I'll try any technique three times, usually it becomes part of my knitting repertoire because it takes more than once to really love it (DPN's fell into this category). Toe-up=hate. I know many people love to do socks this way, you'll never run out of yarn, try them on as you go, etc. etc. I have small feet, I never rarely run out of yarn. One time, I made a toe up sock and used every last bit of the skein, just to see how far it would go:

For the record, that is ~2.5 inches short of my knee, I added ALOT of shaping, and this picture was taken on August 20, 2007. According to my ravelry notebook, I turned the heel on the second sock in January of 2008, it's still not done.

Anyways, the Anastasias. My knitting group was doing a knit-a-long to start off the year and I joined in. I had at least one more go at toe-ups in me before the true hate, and I thought it would be fun. It was fun, but...the socks came out two different sizes! I knit them one right after the other, finished in about two months, which is my average knitting time and my gauge changed so much that they are noticeably different sizes. I wear them around the house, but the two different sizes are uncomfortable in shoes. 2009, sock fail #1:

Pattern: Anastasia Socks from Minty Fresh
Yarn: The Painted Tiger Tiger Cub, purchased on Etsy.
Color: Cool as a Cucumber
Needles: US size 1 DPN

Other than the gauge thing, which was totally on me, and of course the finicky-ness of short row toes and heels, the knit was pretty fun. More so, because for some reason this color and the yarn texture itself had a very odd sense memory for me. The yarn is 20% nylon and has a vague acrylic feel to it. Not so much that I didn't want to knit with it, but more so than other similar content yarns I've worked with. It completely reminds me of mittens my mom had when I was a kid, which I'm sure were hand knit by my grandmother, or maybe even my mom herself ~30 years ago. But the color and feel was almost the same. The whole time I was knitting these I was recalling fond memories of snowmen, snow forts and skiing back home. BTW, they machine wash beautifully and I can't get them to shrink at all. Trust me, I tried in an attempt to make them the same size.

Then, in March, when I finished these, I cast on for my sister's next pair of socks, you see it was her turn and I thought I would have them done in time for her birthday. I knit an entire sock. Rather quickly as I recall, from some Claudia's Handpaints fingering that's been kicking around my stash for >3 years or so waiting to be socks for Shelly. It was the color "roasted chilies". The pattern was Spring Forward and technically there was nothing wrong with the sock. I just didn't like it. Somewhere along the line I decided that the texture of the yarn wasn't quite right for socks, particualarly in the stockinette portion of the sole. I kept knitting anyways, like a fool. Got to the toe, let the sock sit on my dresser for a week, and then frogged the whole thing. A whole sock, just like that, gone. Sock fail #2:

That was June-ish. Just not a good year for socks.