Sassy Does It

The photo shoot with Maizy is a wrap, so now I can share my review of this pattern (as modified from women’s size to child’s) and the final product.

Original pattern:  More Fun Than Cables Socks by Marguerite Byrne, available for free at Stitches of Violet (Ravelry link)

My modified pattern:  More Fun Than Cables Socks (children’s knee-highs); mini-me version to fit 3- to 4-year old feet (Ravelry link to project notes)

Yarn:  Valley Yarns Huntington (machine washable wool) in colorway 4150

Needle:  US 3 circular (I routinely use the 2-at-a-Time method for socks on one circular, but pattern is written for use on two circulars; could be used with traditional dpn method)

Finished dimensions:  calf circumference = 4.25 inches (unstretched), knee to heel top = 11 inches, back of heel to end of toe = nearly 7 inches

In reducing the overall number of stitches to fit the foot size of a 3- to 4-year old, I needed to make some adjustments to the pseudo-cable pattern that repeats, and to accommodate a knee-high fit, I also modified the length.  You can review my adjustments via this modified pattern link in PDF format (also above) or through my Patterns link on the sidebar to the right.

I’m really happy with how these turned out:  I mean, come on, is Maizy not adorable in the bright-red knee-highs?  And tell me the fingernails in the picture above aren’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.  I love my niece, I really do.  She is so stylin’.

They come up right to her knees - bingo, right on target - and appear to fit her very well; tight enough around the calf to stay up.  I made sure to shoot on the long side for foot length so that she can wear these puppies for close to a year (assuming they hold up!).

Sissy B tells me that she’s enjoyed wearing them several times already, tying them in with outfits of all colors, including some (like hot pink) that grown women might not normally pair with red.   That’s my girl:  fashion-forward.

Sizing-wise, if you would like to make any further tweaks to size slightly up or down in age, I used a couple of resources in determining foot length for children of various ages, among other dimensions (length from knee to ankle, calf circumference…this second link is a lot of data, but I’m a nerd, as you’ve already heard on this subject).  If your wee recipient isn’t within reach to do the measurements in person, this info might come in handy.

I like the Huntington yarn (by Valley Yarns, procured from WEBS).  Soft yet sturdy, smoothly sliding down my non-Addi Turbo cheapo needles.   Not splitty at all - very easy to work with.  I’ve already drooled all over the perfect shade of red.

My research prior to ordering the yarn indicated that the yarn could be both machine-washed and tumble-dried (although the latter isn’t on the label). 

I’ll ask Sissy B how the fabric stands up over time.  Although machine-washing will probably be her choice moving forward, she said she hand-washed after Maizy road-tested them for the first time (getting them nice and dirty, like a good girl should).  Maizy modeled the socks for the photos here after that wash.  I noticed a bit of white fuzz clinging at this point, but not pilling.

These nearly made it entirely out of one skein.  You can see here how close to the toe ends my last bit of first skein stopped (in the 2-at-a-Time method, I pull from both the middle yarn and the outside strand to knit each sock on a different portion of the circular needle at the same time).

I used only 10-15 yards of my second skein in order to finish up with the foot length I wanted.  In fact, so eager was I to manage to crank these out from just the one skein (even though the second one was sitting right there) that I finished these socks once with a shorter length (around 6.25 inches instead of closer to 7).  And these would have fit Maizy now, on the tighter side…but given that the foot length is the dimension that will change the most for her in the next year, I wanted room to grow.  Plus there might be some shrinkage in the laundry.  You know.

So I ripped back re-did them to add that extra 3/4 inch.  Worth it.  Happy I did.

Overall, two thumbs up for both pattern and yarn.  Comment away with any questions.

More soon on other progress, which I’m happy to report has actually occurred.  Sheer Poncho was off the needles, as in off off, but a stretchier bind-off is needed…so it’s back on the needles.  Heavens to Betsy, if I don’t have it ready for mailing to Kymber by the end of the weekend I’m gonna be in my own dog house.

Well, well – somebody’s been absent from blogworld for a while.

And by absent I mean floating adrift in a real pisser of a month.  I feel like I’ve been dog-paddling along in the wake of life as it’s plunging forward, mightily, without so much as a glance back in my direction.  I’ve been struggling in spectacular fashion, but today is when I pull myself up by the bootstraps.

Help me up, girls - I’ll emerge from this yet.

Finished my Curlicue blanket for Kymber’s baby girl – what was it, two weeks ago?  Just needs blocking.  Little K is actually past due, so my shocking pink creation will need to hit the mail any day.  Somewhere in Holland that baby could be entering the world right now.

I’ve been waiting on the blocking because I haven’t wanted to give it my usual (still-frosh) effort: a quick, 30-second soak in the sink followed by a roll-up in a towel to suck out the excess water, and then a layout flat to shape.

My soak in the sink has always included a few drops of Downy (standard April Fresh, thank you) in the water.  No soap - just Downy.

I know – not really a lot of thought about the possibility of my beloved Downy leaving any waxy fabric-softener residue on my little treaure of fine fibers, freshly knitted.

You’d think I’d put more time into thinking it through, given the time spent on the knitting part.

I’ve never put much thought into cleaning my clothes beyond the following:

1. Toss it all in the washing machine.
2. Toss it all in the dryer - unless it’s “delicate” (meaning “might shrink” and make it look like I’ve put on weight).  If delicate, [sigh] air-dry.
3. God forbid it doesn’t fall into one of these categories, which is rare, it goes to the dry cleaners.

It makes sense that I don’t have a good feel for the care of fine fibers, since I’ve not had the luxury of being a person who lines my closet with cashmere sweaters (awww, poor Amy).  Even if I did, they’d probably fall into category 3 above.

Pictured here with its
new-fangled labeling

I have a vague recollection of Woolite being on Mom’s laundry shelf.  I don’t recall seeing it used, but I think I may have inquired once what it was (”but why do we need extra soap when we’ve got the magic of Tide?”).

This curiosity arrived around about the time I reached that plateau of womanhood at which first-ever pairs of pantyhose and the dowdiest of rubber-heeled pumps are bestowed upon thrilled-beyond-words pre-pubescent girls.

For me, I’m pretty sure this occasion coincided with some type of after-school event in sixth grade that involved – oh, dear heavens – square-dancing. 

Emphasis on the square.

I grew up in the Midwest, what can I say?  This is what we did in gym class when we weren’t pelting each other (in my case, being pelted) with surprisingly painful rubber balls.

As I recall, I made it through one wearing of the stockings, miraculously, without any (super-obvious) runs or ladders that required retiring them to the bin.  Hence the onetime use of Woolite to wash my delicate, delicate, $1.99 Leggs pantyhose before they were trotted out for the next later-embarrassing grade school social event.

After that I promptly forgot about Woolite or anything resembling it.

So you get the picture – I’m not well-versed in the blocking or washing or even rinsing of delicates.

But now that I’m a knitter and all, I probably should be.

It’s been on my list to order up some wool wash of some kind.  I remember reading about Kookaburra first on somone’s blog - darned if I can remember whose - and then on another and another.  Something about making your wool super-soft and super-supple.  Super-supple!  Gotta get me some of that.

Then, recently, when the plan to order some Kookaburra was near the top of my mind, SouleMama made a loving reference to Eucalan, of which I had also heard rumblings.  It seemed compelling enough to give me pause about my choice (probably her fantastic photography added to the delicious appeal of her choice), and this put me all in a jumble.

It dawned on me, as if it were a surprise this would happen, that a decision between more than one option would be required, which would necessitate (possibly months and months of) analysis.

You know, since I’m me, and I can’t just pick one without going through the analysis.  Or just buy freaking both of them in small quantities to try - because doing that would be wasteful.

Oy.

Suffice it to say that after a bit of Googling, I forced myself to stop with this review, which was scientific enough to whet my OCD appetite as well as lead me to a conclusion.  In a nutshell: both leading brands are great.  No perceivable differences in method of use or in the look and feel of finished garment.  Both environmentally friendly, both contain lanolin, both excellent washes for any natural fiber.

By this account, only variations in scent seem to separate the choices (and perhaps a slightly different potential for repelling moths, which wasn’t at the top of my concerns list).  Although I’m as picky as the next girl with smell, I couldn’t tell over the internet which I preferred (I’d already contacted my LYS about whether they carried wool wash – ah, no).

Ultimately it was personal preference, and by all accounts I’d read, each of the multiple scents available was very nice.  Subtle, in every case, which helps.

Could have gone with unscented – but what’s the fun in that, pray you?  This recovering Downy Girl needs some kind of scent to remind her that this garment has been pampered in some special way, just like Mom would have done.

So I flipped a virtual coin – something that is very hard for me to do, even virtually.

I went with Eucalan.  Original eucalyptus scent.

I ordered it from Webs, along with some new blocking equipment, since I don’t have any.  I’d purchased some T-pins a few months ago whilst whisking through Jo-Ann’s for something, but alas, T-pins don’t do much good without something like the soft surface of a blocking board in which to stick them.

Yes, I know I could get creative and use a pile of towels, a spare bedspread, even part of an ironing board.  Yeah, that hasn’t happened.

I sprung for a blocking board, the big one, deciding that I’ve waited long enough - and if I’m going to get a blocking board, get a blocking board, you know?

Of course then Webs e-mailed me to tell me it was out of stock and would have to be shipped later.

Oh well.

Good thing I had one other goodie in the shopping basket, besides the aforementioned Eucalan wash, which is en route to me now:  Fiber Fantasy Sweater Blockers.

Sounds exotic, and I’m expecting to be impressed. 

While researching all things blocking that I had been missing out on, I discovered the existence of these little guys.  It’s a set of blocking needles that can be used for more than just your mama’s sweaters.

“Great for scalloped edges”, I read – hey, my Curlicue blanket has scalloped edges! – so I read on.

Twelve of the fourteen needle thingies are used for standard straight-edge blocking (8 are 36″, 4 are 18″); the other two are flexible (but not permanently bendable into a new shape).  Thus, these later two are touted as a nice solution for blocking the curve of the top of a sleeve or, better yet, stretching out and holding an edge pattern by winding wires through the ends of your knitting, locking the design in place during blocking.

There’s a great review of these here, which is where I also found this photo.  [Note to Angelika at yarn-store.com, from whom I also considered purchasing the blocking board: the extra $20+ in shipping for the board couldn't compete with the free holiday shipping offered by Webs, but now that I've found your store, you are on my list of vendors!]

Not rocket science, this bendy wire idea, but since the concept hadn’t occurred to me, it felt like it.

My previous attempts to get scalloped edges to lay flat (for Maizy’s and E-dot’s Little Girl’s Shrugs) involved the traditional approach of pinning the fabric down flat and then steam-ironing the heck out of it – and this did not result in what I’d call a success.  Stubborn, those scallops.

The memory of that challenge made me click on “buy” without much further delay – mercifully, I spared myself further research.

So - it took me all that to fill you in on where I stand with Curlicue.  Final pics once the blocking is done.

Sheer Poncho is moving sssslowwwwly in the midst of tumultuous life lately, but over the weekend I finally got my booty into the LYS to procure some US 5 Addi Turbos.  The cashmere stockinette is looking lovely, but with only a fat inch or so on the needles, my cheapo Michael’s circulars weren’t cutting the mustard.

In my frustration to just Turbo it already, earlier last week I’d swung into another yarn shop (off the beaten path from my usual LYS; I might add that stepping into Someone Else’s LYS and passing it off as my own with the sales lady was seductively naughty, especially since it was such a cute shop) for this purpose.

I was tacking on the quest for these needles to a list of already annoying errands and trying to cram it all in to not enough time (shocker).

I arrived at SELYS four minutes before closing, breathless yet triumphant that I’d actually located this place before it closed.

No standard US 5 Turbos on the shelf – curses! – only the Lace Turbos.  I’d thought about whether to Lace or not to Lace my Turbos before walking into the store.  I’d pretty much decided not to Lace.  Worried that they’d be too slow for simple stockinette; that the previously appreciated fine drag wouldn’t be appropriate for this project or this fiber.

But with only the Lace variety available, and time ticking away – oh, I couldn’t wait – I just went for it.

Shifted the stitches from the cheapos to the Lace Turbos that night, gagging for a few quick rounds of Sheer Poncho before beddy-byes.

Oh, poopy pants - too slow.  Not an improvement, even in all their pretty gold shininess.  Drag not appreciated, cashmere too clingy.  Darn.

But.  Now I’m all set with the right ones - straight up, slick as all get-out, standard Addi circulars.  I’ll be non-Lace Turboing it up for the rest of the week.

Thanks for sticking with my blog and with my writing-lots-of-words-makes-me-happy ways.  I’ve missed you.  

Curlicue Glamour Shots coming soon.

I know I sound like a WEBS commercial lately – but get right out of town, have you seen this?

Yarn.com, now even more addictive

The new overhauled website at yarn.com is the bomb. I didn’t think it was lacking in anything before, but maybe it’s because I spent so much time lurking there that the tricks of the existing navigation had become second nature to me.  I knew right where to find ehhhhvvvverything. 

Closeouts?  Zip zop.  Rowan by brand?  Yepper, over there.  Shazaam.  Got it.

As I’ve shared before, I’ve probably already wasted weeks of my life lingering in indecision over purchases on this one site.  When on a particularly good run of daydreaming about which candidate to choose out of, oh, say, 26 or so shortlisted yarns for a project, I’d just bookmark them all and delay the ridiculously difficult decision until another day when I could deal with the stress of it all.

Of course when I came back to my bookmark list later, I’d realize what a nut I’d been to not just cut to the chase and make the decision sooner; it was too hard to sort through all those choices and not really be able to compare them side by side. 

But I’d feel like I’d done too much “work” to start again, and would just roll up my sleeves and push on through that not-so-short list.

I’d end up copying and pasting my choices into a Word document (I’m not joking - it’s sad, isn’t it?) and sending it off to other people to tell me which fiber to buy.

It’s a good thing I only do this a couple times a year.  The buying, not the shopping.  You know.

Kids, it’s not nice to stare at that poor neurotic girl.

Anyhoo. 

Even good websites can get better.  Better at sucking me in.  (Enabler!  I love me some enablers!)

Wishlists on WEBS are now my friend.

As with on Amazon, this is very dangerous.  But I like it.

Throwing the objects of my desire onto the Wishlist just feels so good. No commitment required, but it does feel a lot like putting something into a shopping cart, which feels decisive.  Such an unuuuusual sensation.

The new Wishlist feature:
Isn’t it fun? Fairy Godmother might come along and buy the whole lot for me.

Seriously, though - it’s a lot easier to keep track of my little “I’d like to keep an eye on this” items.  There they are, all splayed out for me with pictures and prices and (new feature!) updated inventories (hourly updates, people).  Thus, my need for a little extra juice to make my next order reach the 25% discount amount is met by a ready and waiting list of alternatives.

You do need an account on WEBS for your wishlist to work - which I thought I had, since I get a load of e-mails, but I guess I was only on the mailing list after having purchased. 

Update: I just stumbled upon the extended list of wonderful improvements, and having an account with WEBS is actually a new feature and wasn’t available before.  So I wasn’t missing out as a mailing list-only person.  Whew, I wondered how I could have missed that one.  (”How did i miss those, baby? Oh, behave!” - Austin Powers, in the opening scene of The Spy Who Shagged Me, with reference to Vanessa’s previously undetected machine-gun jubblies.)

Other observations regarding the sexy new site:

• Sidebar list of recently viewed items provides help for the ADD/scatter-brained among us
• Inventory amounts not only are updated hourly but also, I noticed, are now listed simply as “50+” if over 50 balls in stock (duh), rather than the previously listed exact count (yeah, listing 247 balls of Pure Cashmere clearly a little dig by Kathy to invoke cruel imagery on the rest of us non-WEBS owners - the knowledge that Kathy and her hubby can roll around in, rub up against, and be submerged under mountains of cashmere every night is just too much to bear)
• Customer Review functionality - for those of us who like to blab a lot about our opinions on things (see more below)


Kathy and her hubby Steve
• More pics of Kathy and Steve - at least it seems like it.  I know there were photos before, but somehow they seem more…there.  Maybe it’s the Wishlist-glow talking.  Check Kathy out - how cute is she?  [Full disclosure:  Kathy has commented on my blog a couple of times, so now I'm officially in love with her.]
• Not a new feature, but something eery that I noticed while I was madly clicking around.  The blog post from yesterday mentioned that Kate Jacobs was coming to WEBS in January (wait for it).  Kate Jacobs is the author of The Friday Night Knitting Club, which I’ve had on the shelf for months but started reading…yesterday.  A few hours before that post was posted.  Is that a weird coincidence, or is it just me?  BTW - On My Bookshelf let me know that over at Stephanie’s Written Word they’re giving away a copy of the Friday Night sequel (called Knit Two) - which I obviously don’t need yet, but I will, because I’m already completely loving the first one and it’s only Chapter 2.

There are lots of other new things to play with, but I’ll let you either discover them yourself or read the big list.

I really do like the new Customer Review capability.  Now the reviews are few and far between (which gives me the desire to go through and comment like mad about yarns I love, as if I were to run across a snow-covered field just waiting for footprints and snow angels), but I know before too long it will be well-populated with yarnie opinions.  I do like going to Ravelry to do yarn research, but more onsite help will not go amiss.  Maybe a tie-in with Ravelry (e.g., links to reviews there) could be a future development?

While I’m at it here, I’ll share one other discovery before getting back to the to-do list I’m supposed to be working on right now.

The Twist Collective:  who knew about this?  I didn’t know about this.  It’s fantastic.  This discovery came courtesy of Sknitty, whose blog is quickly becoming one of my top 5 must-reads.

The ladies running Twist Collective web-publish each season with the objective of showcasing promising designers, as either a springboard for further publishing or simply an outlet for their creativity. 

The format is like an online photo-magazine to click through (big arrows on the right or left help the navigation-challenged - although it took me a few minutes to figure it out).  There are no page numbers or hyperlinks, just drool-worthy pics and a few fun articles.  The idea is to stimulate pattern development with fair pay via online pattern download sales (if you see something you like,  just hover over it and the details for download are right there).

However they’re doing it, it’s yummy.  The winter edition just came out last week.  Take a look.  It’s inspiring.

Fun, huh?

Quick WIP update:

Curlicue is now 75% done.  One skein of dreamy Blue Sky cotton left.

Sheer Poncho is now cast on.  Was my first provisional cast on, so I took some time to get it right.  Not that it’s rocket science, but I like to get it right the first time if I can.  Usually.  Sometimes.  I didn’t realize there were so many different ways to cast on, so perusing the options was a learning experience (when I learned to cast on from the Yarn Girls with their Simple Knits, they only told me about one way, so I assumed that was The Way - as you do, right?).

Raindrop Lace Socks - yeah, I’ve rounded a few more rows on this just to keep the pattern fresh in my mind.  I keep thinking that I’m ready to turn the heel, but I’m not going to do it until after I finish the first of my two balls of Happy Feet.  The second will be plenty to finish up the length of my foot - it’s getting chilly out - so I might as well make these as longshanks as possible while I’m at it.

Longshanks - it’s what Sissy B and I say instead of just “long”.  You know, Longshanks, the English king guy that tried to take over Scotland, the one we probably should have known about before Braveheart but in reality did not.  Thus, his name for some reason elicited giggles in us once heard in the movie.  It’s just fun to say - longshanks, longshanks, longshanks.

And you can add “shanks” to other things, just for kicks.  Shortshanks.  Fatshanks.  Coolshanks.  Softshanks.

It doesn’t mean anything.  Which is why it’s so much fun.

OK, no more proscratinating.  I have (other, less fun) things to do.  See you latershanks.