I am humming along on the Clean Slate by 08 challenge. I ripped a bunch of stuff earlier in the week and now an FO!

Pretty Firestarters

Pattern: Firestarters by Yarnissima
Knit for: Me!
Begun: October 30, 2007
Finished: December 3, 2007
Yarn: Pretty Pirate by Yarn Pirate
Needles: Knitpicks size 2mm for the foot, 2.5mm for the leg
Leftovers: about 1/3 of the ball
Verdict: Me Likey!

I did make some changes to the pattern but none intentional. For some reason, I didn't read the work the heel flap in a 1x1 twisted rib part nor did I manage to work the leg in 1x1 rib either. For some reason, I swear it said 1x2 rib. Oh well, I like them anyway. Next time I will follow the pattern though and I'm pretty sure there will be a next time since it is a really great sock pattern. It looks fiddily but the pattern flows really well after the first repeat and its easy to pick it up and work on it without a pattern right in front of you all of the time.

Posted by fruitychick at 11:31 AM | Permalink

I must say, I was very disappointed this year when daylight savings time was moved into November. One of my favorite ever stories revolves around the time change...

In late October of 1980, my Mom was in labor--with me. Many, many hours, all done without the help of drugs. I was a big baby and I'm sure it was a hard delivery. She watched the minutes tick by and took solace in the passage of time since each hour was an hour done and one she wouldn't have to do over again. She continued to push for hours with little effect and while she was resting for a few moments during contractions, when a nurse walked into the room with a stool. She popped it down on the floor and took the clock off the wall and set the time back and hour for daylight savings. My mom yelled at her because now she had to do that hour all over again.... I can only imagine how she felt!

Now that the rules have changed--the time change won't ever coincide with my birthday again! How disappointing!

I finally got around to taking a picture of the Garter Rib Socks:

I love them!

And I worked this weekend on the Pretty Pirate Firestarters:

My favorite detail is the way the ribbing continues between the heel and gusset:

This has been a surprisingly quick knit considering its on size 0's. The pattern is really addictive--I'm guessing I'll have this first sock done in the next day or two!

Posted by fruitychick at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Apparently, I shouldn't knit close to my bedtime.

It isn't obvious but there is a row missing--an important cable row. At first, I thought I would ignore it and kept knitting. Then, this morning, I realized I just had to fix it.

So I picked up stitches a few rows below the mistake:

I hate doing this--I am very bad at it. I always seem to change rows somewhere in the middle and have to rip out the whole thing (hence the trying to ignore it and continue with the sock issue)

GRR!! Stupid purls!! I just can't seem to pick those up correctly... My yarn is trapped around every purl stitch! Oh well...i just had to slip the stitches around and free the trapped yarn. Then I got back to knitting and voila!!

Problem all fixed!

Yay!!

Posted by fruitychick at 02:30 PM | Permalink

So I'm nearing the finish of the Garter Rib Socks:

Only a few more rows of ribbing to finish up the second cuff and then I'm free!!

While my hands were a little crampy yesterday from knitting gung-ho on these for far too long, I decided to scout around for the next pattern. I wanted:

1. Something that would work well with a handpainted yarn
2. Something a little more interesting than the garter rib stitch but not so "interesting" it required constant care and feeding of a chart.
3. Something knit at a slightly larger gauge than the lorna's laces. I love you, lornas laces, but you make for slow sock knitting. To take the edge off, I require something a little larger. If I had any STR Heavyweight here, I'd probably whip out a superfast pair.

After getting side tracked in ravelry for a few, umm, hours, I finally found the Firestarter Pattern from Yarnissima. (link there is to the kit but the pattern is available for free. I can't remember where I downloaded it though--the link is on the Ravelry pattern page though.)

Despite the resurgence of one of the scariest movie memories of my childhood due to the name, I absolutely love this sock. It is exactly what I was looking for--great detail without too much going on.

Then came the great yarn decision. I swear I do this every time its time to cast on for a new pairs of socks. I get all the yarn of the gauge out and pile it all up to decide which colorway to use. I realize it is ridiculous to spend so much time deciding what yarn to use. Obviously I love it all or I wouldnt have bought it...

Last night, I had a pile of about 10 skeins left after some weeding out. I turned to ask Mr. Fruitychick (who hates when I ask him yarn advice because he never knows the "right" answer). After glancing at the yarns for half a second, he said "the pink, black and gray one."

At first, I was shocked. How could anyone take such a decision so lightly? No thought, no squishing the skeins or agonizing over them for an hour wondering how each would work up. I wanted to ignore his choice (this is why he never wants to weigh in, I'm sure) but then I realized: it is just yarn. Sure, it may be Yarn Pirate Pretty Pirate but it is still just yarn. What am I agonizing about? If I hate it, I can always rip it out.

So I grabbed the skein and started winding....

I'm ready.

Posted by fruitychick at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)