Riveted with boredom
First, the good news - my thyroid test was normal. Hallelujah.
Next. I spent a fair amount of time Sunday night working on the pattern for the arch-shaped socks. So y'all remember the original pattern was in Vogue Knitting, Fall 2006 and I was dying to knit it. But the corrections page at the VK website says REPLACE ENTIRE PATTERN.
So I went over there to read those instructions, because basically what I wanted to do is make my own sock and incorporate the arch shaping from Meg's pattern. But then the corrected pattern instructions turned out to be wrong, so I worked out my own. Remember all that? Gnittink? Yeah. The principle is that fabric knitted on the bias doesn't stretch as much, so at a certain point on the sock you make it lean, and it curves all around the sock to meet on top of the foot. In order to do this, the curves have to move apart every row. The VK pattern Does Not Do This. (I know. I knitted it several times.) And I want to write it out, because I essentially came up with it myself and used it in my basic sock pattern.
So then my task was not only to figure it out but figure out how to tell y'all how to do what I am doing in case you want to knit socks like this too. Which is mostly just telling y'all the basic math for gettin' er done. Which I stink at. It is unbelievably complicated to explain line-by-line, but I think if I can just explain the principle, it will be easier for everyone. But that involves those crazy Norwegian principles of knitting.
And now that I have this pattern pretty much nailed, that is, it seems to be working and I've solved the little quirks I've found, except for one, I'm kinda bored. And I did not want to work on the FBS last night.
So yesterday afternoon, being lazy and not wanting to drive down to the yarn shop that is open late and knowing the close-by one was closed, I went to JoAnn. And do y'all know that Lion has this cashmere-blend yarn? It appears fairly similar in content to Cashmerino - cashmere, nylon (instead of microfiber) and merino, but only 84 yards. Feels pretty good. Five colors. A 100-yard skein of DB Cashmerino Aran will cost you about $7.50 at the yarn store.
Do y'all know what you'll pay at JoAnn for LION brand? $8.99. That's it, friends! Nine dollars for a "discount" brand, when the "luxury" brand costs $7.50! With better color selection and yardage!
Their Lion Wool - similar to Patons Classic Wool or even Galway - $6.99 for 158 yards. Unlike the Patons, which is $5.99 for 223 yards. (I am not doing the math for you.)
I've harped on this before - do not think y'all are getting a bargain by going to the craft stores. (Even Knit Picks isn't really a bargain - how many local yarn shops have a $40 minimum or they charge you shipping? Hi! You can drive there!)
I didn't buy any yarn last night. I went home and dug through the stash and found a ball of bricky coloured worsted-weight single ply kettle-dyed stuff Nona sent me from her stash-busting contest and started making my knockoff version of the cabled footies from One Skein. This yarn is very much like Malabrigo or Manos, but has much more variation in the spin - either very thick or very thin. Loves cables. Beautiful. Dreamy. New and interesting yarn coming off the ball with every row. It feels handspun, just the perfect thing for my chunky around-the-house footies.
And not available at any craft store.
Next. I spent a fair amount of time Sunday night working on the pattern for the arch-shaped socks. So y'all remember the original pattern was in Vogue Knitting, Fall 2006 and I was dying to knit it. But the corrections page at the VK website says REPLACE ENTIRE PATTERN.
So I went over there to read those instructions, because basically what I wanted to do is make my own sock and incorporate the arch shaping from Meg's pattern. But then the corrected pattern instructions turned out to be wrong, so I worked out my own. Remember all that? Gnittink? Yeah. The principle is that fabric knitted on the bias doesn't stretch as much, so at a certain point on the sock you make it lean, and it curves all around the sock to meet on top of the foot. In order to do this, the curves have to move apart every row. The VK pattern Does Not Do This. (I know. I knitted it several times.) And I want to write it out, because I essentially came up with it myself and used it in my basic sock pattern.
So then my task was not only to figure it out but figure out how to tell y'all how to do what I am doing in case you want to knit socks like this too. Which is mostly just telling y'all the basic math for gettin' er done. Which I stink at. It is unbelievably complicated to explain line-by-line, but I think if I can just explain the principle, it will be easier for everyone. But that involves those crazy Norwegian principles of knitting.
And now that I have this pattern pretty much nailed, that is, it seems to be working and I've solved the little quirks I've found, except for one, I'm kinda bored. And I did not want to work on the FBS last night.
So yesterday afternoon, being lazy and not wanting to drive down to the yarn shop that is open late and knowing the close-by one was closed, I went to JoAnn. And do y'all know that Lion has this cashmere-blend yarn? It appears fairly similar in content to Cashmerino - cashmere, nylon (instead of microfiber) and merino, but only 84 yards. Feels pretty good. Five colors. A 100-yard skein of DB Cashmerino Aran will cost you about $7.50 at the yarn store.
Do y'all know what you'll pay at JoAnn for LION brand? $8.99. That's it, friends! Nine dollars for a "discount" brand, when the "luxury" brand costs $7.50! With better color selection and yardage!
Their Lion Wool - similar to Patons Classic Wool or even Galway - $6.99 for 158 yards. Unlike the Patons, which is $5.99 for 223 yards. (I am not doing the math for you.)
I've harped on this before - do not think y'all are getting a bargain by going to the craft stores. (Even Knit Picks isn't really a bargain - how many local yarn shops have a $40 minimum or they charge you shipping? Hi! You can drive there!)
I didn't buy any yarn last night. I went home and dug through the stash and found a ball of bricky coloured worsted-weight single ply kettle-dyed stuff Nona sent me from her stash-busting contest and started making my knockoff version of the cabled footies from One Skein. This yarn is very much like Malabrigo or Manos, but has much more variation in the spin - either very thick or very thin. Loves cables. Beautiful. Dreamy. New and interesting yarn coming off the ball with every row. It feels handspun, just the perfect thing for my chunky around-the-house footies.
And not available at any craft store.
posted by Jen at 10:17 AM
5 Comments:
Hooray for normal tests!
Everyone who read knittyboard last year knows all about my feelings towards VK. Enough said.
I am not even going to attempt the pattern from VK's instructions. I want to try it from your instructions.
Yay! :) Thanks!
So happy to hear you're healthy!
On the yarn front, don't forget you can get 200 yds of Rowan Cashsoft (similar composition to the other cashmere blends listed) for $8, making it the best value in my opinion. :)
I'm glad to hear your tests were normal!!
And totally with you on the "discount" stores...
So glad the tests were normal! Yay!
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