Sunday, November 25, 2007

Where did the week go?

Back to work tomorrow (wahhh..) and I thought I would be further along on my Baudelaire's than this:



The longest part was doing the leg where the pattern wrapped around the whole sock. I figured out that eliminating one stitch at each end meant I had to eliminate the cable stitches between the front and back but it is still time consuming to do the pattern on both sides. Good thing I'm a process knitter and am not too impatient (hah!) about getting them done.

And I don't know what is wrong.. but for the first time in a long time - I am losing some of my passion to knit. Maybe its cuz I have stopped doing much anything else. I haven't picked up a novel since Harry Potter. Or maybe its just that I don't know what to do next. I OUGHT to finish the Hanne Mermaid if only to provide the sleeve pattern to Amy to add to the spreadsheet. I also OUGHT to finish the objects that are off the needles but not 100% done. My plan is to that over Xmas break (I have 2+ weeks off) as I did last year.

Part of me is thinking about Fair Isle. Maybe start one of my Philosopher's Wool kits or maybe one of my Starmore kits. Don't know. After the Baudelaires - I'm not in a mood for socks anyway.

I have been perusing the internet for toe up sock patterns. My problem is my 56 stitch count. I've found that there aren't as many patterns that can be easily adjusted down.. Most are multiples of 8 or 16. If I continue the pattern across the back - I need an even multiple so we are talking about 64 stitches. How do I get that down to 56? I considered using a smaller needle but I'm already using size 1's. Not sure I want to use toothpicks. If anyone reading this knows how I convert these patterns down to 56 stitches.. please help!

So - I think that maybe after these socks are done - I am going back to what I used to do - read my books on Sat's, knit on Sundays and lunch breaks. Maybe some balance will help my mood.

I ended up with 16 big bags of clothes to donate after my closet cleaning. Amazing. I am getting to the point where comfort is more important to me than fashion so I had so much in my closets that I don't wear anymore. I put the items (after photos and tallies) into my Its Deductible (TurboTax) program and it added up to over $2000. Wow!
I'm babbling today. I love vacations but its so hard to go back to work when they are over.

Have a good week. I will try!

2 comments:

Wendee said...

There was a great article in the Summer 2007 edition of Interweave Knits on toe up socks. They have specs for 52 sts. and 60 sts., but not 56. However, I don't see why you couldn't modify it, as they have you start with 8 sts. for both of the smaller sizes. (Jumps to a cast on of 12 for 64 sts.) It's just a 2x2 rib pattern, however I would give it a shot.

Cast on 8 sts. using a toe-up method (Knitty has a nice figure 8 one.) Increase 4 sts every round to 28. Increase 4 sts every OTHER round to your desired total stitch count. Work for desired foot length. Work in a short row heel on 1/2 the sts - (I don't know how to do a heel flap from toe up.) Work in a dozen or so ankle stitches (pattern on front, stockinette on back) and then finish up the leg with pattern all around.

Hope that helps. Drop me a line if you have any questions!

RickiLynn said...

Thanks Wendee. I have the Sensational Socks book which also has a lot of patterns with multiples of 2 or 4 (which would work for my 56 stitch count). But I am yearning to knit things like Jaywalkers and Monkey socks which all have much larger multiples. Sigh.. somedays I wish I wasn't so petite!