Have You Seen My Mojo?

I'm not on vacation, but I have visions of my knitting mojo lounging on a beach, sipping mojitos, and laughing at my recent knitting attempts. You don't believe me? I have evidence.

Exhibit 1 was the Fluted Banister Socks. I like the yarn; it is soft and fun. I like the pattern; it is quick to memorize and pleasant to knit. The two together? Not so much. Busy yarn + busy pattern = too much and it all gets mashed together. The sock has been completely frogged and is now becoming a nice, plain ribbed sock.

Exhibit B was entirely the fault of The Sheared Sheep. They had a delightful sale during the first weekend of May and they had Lorna's Laces! I picked up some Gold Trail and then saw the pattern for Yukon Leaves. The two seemed like a perfect match. Well, when knit, I see less of a Yukon Trail and more of Follow the Yellow Brick Road. The swirling pools just aren't doing it for me. I see more frogging in my future.

Exhibit the third was a reaction to the two previous sock disasters. After doing serious credit card damage during The Sheared Sheep Sale Saturday (try saying that three times fast), I dove back into my stash and started the April/May Vintage Socks pattern, Fancy Silk Sock. I used Regia Cotton in black and it just isn't working. The yarn seems much rougher than the Regia Cotton I used for the Sixth Sense pattern. Besides, they are just too big! As you can see, these are ready for the frog pond.

Finally, I return to Aran Rose Peach. I started the front this week. Five rows into the ribbing I realized that I had made a dramatic error on the sleeve that I had recently finished and the entire sleeve will need to be redone. My pointy sticks just don't have the magic this week.

Ode to Mom

Whether you use your sink for dishes or cleaning out sprinkler heads, there is no one like Mom. I hope that your Mother's Day was wonderful.

Project: Ballband Dishcloth from Mason*Dixon Knitting

Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Sage and Landscape

Needles: US7 (4.5 mm) straights

Notes: Quick, and fun, but I felt a little silly. This is my first knitted dishcloth. I don't think it will be my last (if for no other reason than I have more yarn left).

Finally, Time to Knit

Well, time to post, actually. The knitting has been coming along just fine. First off we have another pair of completed socks (without even enough time to post a progress shot).


Pattern: Denmark from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush (April/May sock from the KOTR KAL)

Yarn: Cashsoft DK by RY Classic Yarns in 507 (beige) I used almost exactly one ball per sock. I had just a few yards left when I was all finished.

Needles: US 2 (2.75mm)

Notes: Another great pattern from Nancy Bush! These knit up very quickly and the pattern was easy to memorize. I was even able to cable without a cable needle on these (a first for me)! The yarn is ever so soft! The socks are nice and warm. Okay, so they are a little too warm for SoCal. That means that someone out there can expect to see them as a gift later this year.

Next up are the progress shots:

First we have an entire sleeve from Aran Rose Peach. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cotton DK. I have realized that I will probably need more yarn (curse my optimism) so I need to knit quickly while I can still find a fix to finish the back if when I need it.

Next we have my FLAK (betcha never thought I get around to this one). I've sailed off to sleeve island and expect to be there for some time. The warmth of spring has made this low on my priorities, but I do enjoy the pattern.

Of course, my sock knitting needles can never remain empty, so we have the next sock in line. This one is the Fluted Banister pattern that was a 6Sox Knitalong project many months ago. The pattern is quick and easy and the yarn is a cotton that looks to be fun for summer.

What I really wanted was to start on a pair of Trekking XXL socks. I had one skein when Margene and Norma announced their inspired new KAL.

Now I have two skeins of Trekking XXL (66 for me and 69 for Mr. Engineer) and I'm chomping at the bit waiting for 1 June. Maybe I will need to cast on early......

Sixth Sense with a Twist

What better reason for two posts in one day than to share another pair of socks off the needles!


Pattern: Sixth Sense from the 6Sox Knitalong

Yarn: Regia Cotton (34% cotton), Surf Color 5413 (tropical)

Needles: US1 dpns

Notes: This is a fun pattern (thanks, Susan) that seems to knit up nicely in all the colorways that the KAL gang can find. Mine bring me thoughts of boat drinks and sunny days.

Deviations: Much of my sock knitting is done at work over lunch. I must have been flustered the day that I turned the hem for the first sock. I liked how it looked, but it seemed different from the picture in the pattern. I continued, but the differences were more obvious as I started seeing all the other socks being knit by the group. When I was waaaaaaay down on the foot, I realized that I had managed to turn the sock around and inside out when I turned the hem. Thus, I had stockinette showing with a little purl edge instead of the reverse stockinette that was designed. I liked it so I decided to repeat it for the second sock. (Okay, so I just didn't want to frog an almost finished sock! Sue me.) The fun began when I realized that I had also made two additional errors on the cuff (one fewer purl row and one missing knit row just after the hem was turned). In the end, I'm happy and my feet are happy.

In Which Questions Are Answered

A perusal through the comment logs tells me that I have been remiss. There are questions about and the curious want answers. So, today's post will be about the past.

First off, a big thank you to Kay for the shout out at Mason-Dixon Knitting. It's so fun to have publicity! Next a HUGE thank you for all the complements from my readers. Appreciation feels good!

Now for those anwers that were promised.

For Rebecca in CO, yes, I did use the channel cast on for the New England socks. It was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. The only downside was that the doubled yarn meant that there was an extra end to weave in. The tops of the socks do seem to curl but they seem to lie flat when on.

For Allison, the colorway of the Gryffindor Socks is Regia Nation farbe (color) 5393. I purchased mine at Velona Needleworks and I also saw that Suzoo's Wool Works had several skeins of this the last time I was there.

For Jennifer, I don't think that all the house colors can be recreated in Regia Nation colors, but there is a yellow/black that would be a good Hufflepuff substitute. There is a green and white, but not a green and grey.

Eyja, you are braver than I. No way, no how was I going to weigh my stash. There are some things I don't want to know.

One more for Rebecca in CO, I completely relate to your daughter the chemical engineer. My degree is actually in chemistry, but I work in engineering. It is all good and, yes, we are a little different.