Here’s an update on my blatant rip-off of Jerry’s version of the sock scarf.

The yarn I’m using is a Peruvian wool by Cascade. The color doesn’t show very well in the pictures, but it’s a heathered green, with flecks of rust and tiny touches of turquoise.

The big pictures shows how far I’ve made it. I started at the toe end, and I’ve gone up one foot, around the heel, and up the leg until I ran out of yarn, at which point I started a new skein down the other leg. I’ve just completed the ribbing and started on the fish-tail cables.

The foot turned out a bit larger than I had really planned, but I kinda like it so I decided to leave as is. It won’t be as long as Jerry’s version. The part that I’ve finished is maybe 2-1/2′, so I expect it will be between 4-1/2 and 5′ when finished.

This picture shows a close-up of the fish-tail cables. They’ve been fun to do. I search around a bit to find a not-quite-ordinary pattern that would look reasonably the same “upside down” so that I could work the scarf from toe to toe.

I’m working it in fits and starts, it seems. Some days I’ll go a long way, and other days I only get a few (or no) rounds done. But I have hope that I might have it done before spring completely arrives!

As always, click on the pics to get the larger version pop-up.

I finished K’s socks! Yea! Here’s a pic after washing. Click for the bigger version.

Yes, the alpaca socks are finally finished, which leaves me free to start the sock scarf. I can’t wait!

The colors in the pic aren’t great, but at least you can get the idea. The light color is an off-white, sort of cream color. The dark color is a very dark purple. I was kind of in a hurry to get out the door so I could deliver them, so I just tossed them down on top of my dark, gray-green sheets. Probably not the best choice for backdrop.

K has promised to report back how they feel. Hopefully they will keep her feet warm without setting off her neuropathy. I kept the bind-off really, really loose and the slight rib should provide snugness without being too tight, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there’s no tightness or rough spots.

Now on to the scarf!

[ed. 02/07/05 6:36 am] K reports: “perfect in every way! It was great! The nicest sleep I have had in ages. They are WARM, VERY ROOMY, and SOFT. I love them! I may never take them off!”

Yea!

Today I had lunch with a colleague down on the waterfront, and then we wandered over to Fiber Arts Northwest, where the Start The Year Off Right sale was still going on. There were a lot of fun things I saw there that I’d love to get my hands on, but I restrained myself and came away with nothing but some Wildfoote sock yarn in “Brown Sugar,” which is actually a combination of browns, gold, orange, blue, black and green. It’s so fun looking, that it might take priority over the sock scarf.

I also saw a few fun things that I think I could use as part of the Quilting Arts Magazine 2006 Calendar Contest. A couple of us at work entered last year and it was lots of fun. Although I never got past the “submission” stage, someone I work with was a finalist. This year the theme is “what’s your utopia?” Entries must be small embellished quilts of 12″x12″ to 14″x14″. It took me awhile to come up with my utopia because I didn’t want one that a lot of other people would submit. And now that I have, I’m not sure I’ll have time to complete it. But if I do, I’ll post a picture.

I had a busy, fun weekend!

Saturday was the usual lunch with M. Then, since it was a relatively nice day, I decided to take a little trip over the Chehalem Mountains to Carlton to visit Woodland Wool Works, quite possibly one of the coolest places on earth. Spin, felt, dye, knit, crochet, tat — no matter what your fiber art addiction, they have fun stuff. I especially like their “stash room” where the discontinued and used items go to find a home. I usually end up with more than I planned on, but I restricted myself to some Crystal Palace circular bamboo needles, some Opal yarn, and a few incidentals like stitch markers (they have some flexible ones I really like) and straight cable needles. If you live in the area or are ever within striking distance, Woodland Wool Works is well work the visit!

Another cool place in Carlton (can you believe such a small town has two cool places?) is The Chcolate Sheep Gallery. Opened by felt artist Loyce Ericson in 2003, the gallery features the work of Ericson and several other fiber artists, is open for felting classes, and sells small-batch gormet chocolates like Sharffen-Berger. Being a dark-chocoholic, I indulge in Sharffen-Berger wherever I can get it. I’m not sure what hours The Chcolate Sheep keeps. They were closed on Saturday, although they have been open other weekends when I was there. If you are going only to visit the gallery, I suggest calling ahead.

Sunday I attended the parent/school meeting to discuss the New York trip in February that #1 Son is participating in. As well as seeing the sights, they will be visiting several advertising agencies to see what goes on behind the scenes. Wish I were going!

I’ve finished my first pair of socks in… oh… 30 years or so. Gosh, I hate to admit how long it’s been!

But, here’s the proof in living color. Click on the pic to embiggen.

Sock # 2 is on the top. It’s pretty obvious that my technique improved after sock # 1. 😆 These haven’t been blocked yet. That’s because, what with the cold weather and all, as soon as I’d finished them they went on my feet. They’re warm and cozy and will be great for kicking around the house in.

The next project is another pair of socks, this pair in an alpaca wool in off-white and dark purple (striped). These are meant as a gift for a friend with cold feet that I’d meant the failed felt experiment for.

And, after that, my version of the sock scarf!

The picture, by the way, was taken with the socks laying on the wrong side of a quilt that’s on my bed. It was made by my Great Aunt and around 100 years old. It’s batted with wool from their own sheep.

I spent all weekend finishing up the ornaments for the folks at work. They were all finished and delivered on time! I’m pretty proud of myself for that. 😀

I worked a bit on the slippers that I wanted to make for K. But I’m finding that, in my zeal to make it warm, the felt I made is too thick. My poor Bernina is choking as it tries to stitch the upper to the sole. I’m not really very happy with the result. I’ll probably finish them, but I don’t know that they’ll be given as gifts.

In the meantime, I needed a TV-watching project, so I’ve decided to teach myself the continental style of knitting. I used to knit way-long-ago, but gave it up in favor of crochet, which for me has always been faster. But lately I’m finding that the motions of crochet are tough on my hands, even when I use a pad around the hook.

There are two basic styles of knitting (with a gazillion variations). I learned English style knitting, where the yarn is held in the right hand and “thrown” over the hook. I’ve always been fascinated by the continental (aka “German”) style, where the yarn is held in the left hand and picked up by the needle in a motion that’s rather like crochet. KnittingHelp.com has videos and pictures showing both styles.

Last night I knitted a swatch using the continental method. Wow… I am so out of practice! I couldn’t even remember how to cast on! Although it’s slow going right now, I can tell already that continental will be much faster than English. And since there is so little hand and finger movement, my hands didn’t feel at all trashed even though I knit for about 90 minutes straight! (I would have paid for 90 minutes of straight crochet, believe me.) I knit a few inches of stockinette stitch with size 5 needles, and then a few of 2K/2P ribbing.

If I can get this going well, I think I’ll try knitting a pair of socks. That doesn’t take too long and if the results are not what I’d like, I can still wear them in bed.

If I get really brave and back in practice, I might steal this sock scarf from Jerry at When Knitting Was A Manly Art, which he adapted from a this pattern in Knitter’s. I think the heels down the length of the scarf look strange and I like Jerry’s version a lot better. But I’d like to try it with one end as a toe-up sock and the other as a top-down.

If I get better, that is. I’ll start a little smaller.