Cheating

Pictured above are the two "netting" sections from each of the body panels of Bonbon arranged for comparison. I made a mistake in one of them along the top line of stranded stitches. I misread the pattern for that line and omitted the strands only to discover the error two rows later.

Rather than rip back I decided to try to fake the netting effect by weaving a single line of white yarn through the work in a way that would mimic the correct version. Can you tell which one is which?

How about across the back of the work?

I really can't tell the difference!

I'm not usually one for cheating. It always bothers me to know I've cut a corner and I tend to fixate on the error I know is there even if no one else notices.

Grumperina has a great post today with a video showing how she minimizes ladders when crossing between dpn's on socks and in it she shows some very minor ladders in her helical socks which she says are essentially inevitable. They don't bother her. It's time I stopped letting minor imperfections bother me and I'm going to start with my invisible cheat across the netting section.

I'm past the dotted section on the first sleeve with no problems in the netting after finishing both body panels...

Hopefully I'll finish that sleeve this weekend and cast on for the second. My little travel pack is ready to go wherever I do so a precious knitting minute is never wasted...

But where are the other colours? Clearly only a couple are fitting into that little sac of goodies...

No problem - check out one of the great features of the new summer bag My Beloved picked out for me! You don't even know they are they 'till you need 'em!

Overdue FO's Report

Pattern: My Own Basic Stockinette Top Down Sock

Yarn: Trekking XXL Sock

Colour: Aquamarine Blue #71

Started: April 10, Finished: May 8, 2008

These were done a couple of weeks ago. I wore them even before they had their Soak!

The colour is the thing I love the most. It reminds me of rippling water at the lake and what better to be reminded of while wearing woolly socks in winter than the lakeside in summer! This is quite close to the actual colour...

I like the Trekking yarn. This is my second pair in it and I will use it again. I have a goal to have my sock drawer and some of my Beloved's drawer filled with hand knit socks and this yarn is going to be a big player in getting me there. Its soft yet wears very well and it has a nice woolly halo after washing. In my opinion it makes a plain stockinette sock really shine. Like so many others, much of what appeals to me about knitting socks is the ease of knitting them anywhere and basic stockinette is just about as easy to knit on the go as anything I could imagine. Besides that, I like wearing 'em!

I also love looking at the miracle of the turned heel. I must admit the mystery and magic of the heel turn has gone for me now that I've got several pairs under my belt but I still love the neat, tidy and practical look of it.

Another pair of socks that crossed the finish line a while ago are the black ones I call the "Copycat" socks because they are based on a pair of hand knit socks an elderly relative made for my Beloved many years ago. I knew her version fit him and he liked them - just the qualities I was hoping the pair I made would have!

I've never tried to "read" another hand knit to decipher its pattern but using stitch markers to keep track of where I was it was surprisingly easy to figure out what she had done . Then I adapted things to suit my gauge making sure to keep the ribs running straight down from the cuff through to framing the heel flap ('just call me "Eunny"! ;))
The pattern is a series of ribbed sections breaking up blocks of moss stitch. The old socks had the pattern stopping well short of the toe. I don't much care for the look of stopping so early with the pattern but My Beloved tells me they are more comfortable to wear that way with less bulk being in the shoe and so less irritation on the foot. (I must admit it was also thrilling to be done with the pattern and cruise down to the toe in stockinette!)

I've already posted about the nasty business of knitting with black yarn in Canada in the dark days of the late fall and early winter. Hence the first sock, started during the World Series last autumn did not have a mate until recently.

Pattern: My Own "Copycat" Top Down Men's 3/4 Socks

Yarn: 3 Balls Regia

Colour: Charcoal

Needles: 2mm dpn's

Started: October 2007, Finished, April 23, 2008

So they are done, he likes them and he is wearing them. In fact he recently pulled up his pant leg to show them to another guy! The other fellow was amazed they stayed up and how, for hand knit socks they were so much like dress socks rather than work socks. All in all they're a success I guess!

That concludes the tour of unreported FO's for the moment. Bonbon is moving forward nicely (the lamp has been repaired) and a couple of sporting events and practices on the calendar for Number One Son makes the prospect of further progress quite promising in what remains of the week!

Blame it on the Lamp?

The call of the garden just couldn't be ignored with the great weather we enjoyed over the weekend so the only knitting time was after dark. Multiple hours of gardening during the day means knitting after dark must be done in bed to ensure sudden bouts of sleepiness are managed most effectively.

My bedside lamp, suddenly stopped working over the weekend (the bulb isn't the problem).

No lamp, no knitting, almost no progress on the Bonbon.

Clearly its the Lamp's fault!