The Funeral: FO-ish: Sock Wars II Socks

With as late as the post is, is it any wonder that I died in Sock Wars II before I even finished my first pair?

I'm actually surprised I lasted as long as I did. I was out of town on a church retreat when they e-mailed our assignments. There were pictures of completed socks already uploaded when I finally got the pattern off my friend's laptop.

I had planned ahead of time, and used valuable packing time swatching to get gauge. It took US size 1 needles to get gauge in Claudia Hand Painted Yarn Sport (color: Circus Dancer. Part of me wishes I had kept this yarn for myself.)

I really like the pattern. It incorporates "smocking" (or at least that's what Lyndsey said it was.) It inspired me to use smocking in future designs. I think it looks especially good on handpainted yarn. The two lines of smocking are supposed to be battle scars. The Scar Rib Pattern is available for the general public now.

You can see multiple Scar Rib socks on the Flickr Sock Wars II group.

(FYI, I had gotten to round 17 of the scar rib of the second sock when I died.)

Can you really call incomplete sock wars socks an FO? Put it this way, I am. I even entered these in the Stash and Burn Socktoberfest Contest.

I got my socks one week after the wars began. Right now, I can't remember my assassin's name for the life of me.

But, as you can see by my picture, I have an excuse. By mid-week, I was as sick as a dog. (You can see I still had antibiotics left when this picture was taken.)


I missed my usual knitting groups that week. I stayed home from work that Thursday and slept all day. I never even touched my knitting on my sick day.

I missed the Meet Up Yarn Crawl to attend Maker Faire with Peter and Lyndsey. It was awesome, but because I was sick, I didn't really get into it. I was dragging myself around like a zombie most of the day. I didn't even bring a camera. (Although Peter has pictures here.) The socks did make an appearance at Maker Faire, on Peter's camera. (I don't have a picture of it right now.)

Anyway, after going for Pho with Lyndsey, I headed home and decided that I could knock out this sock before the weekend ended. After all, knitting required little movement. But lo and behold, I checked my mail and there they were, the socks of death.

I'm unsure of the yarn or fiber, but they are a pretty color. And they fit.

Did I mention my target has bigger feet than I do? And that I was I out of town when I got my assignment? And I was sick the first week of the wars.

I know. Excuses, excuses. But all is fair in socks and war.

FO: Pinky-Purple Boogie Time

I planned to make several Boogie Time watches for the Stash and Burn One Skein Contest, but I only got in two. One is for me, this one will be a gift.

I used a bit of leftover Claudia's Hand Painted Yarn Sport in "Just Plum" leftover from a "mystery" project. I settled on size US 2 bamboo dpns after unraveling it a few times. The watch part is from Jo-Ann.

I also didn't really follow the pattern, just the basic concept. I cast on a number that seemed right, and then knit until it was a length that seemed right.

I did it in one day, the second my second to last entry for the one skein contest.

Yarn (Store) Pr0n: Gauge

Once upon a time, I thought Austin's yarn market was too full for any more yarn shops.

But after talking to other knitters, and listening to Stash and Burn talk about San Francisco and New York City's many yarn shops, I realized this wasn't true. I still have a lot to learn about the yarn business.

Gauge had it's grand opening last Friday night. Of course, I heard about it after midnight Friday and missed the whole thing. But I did manage to get out there Saturday afternoon. And again on Sunday, when I went with Lyndsey.





Gauge is located just off 2222, making it the closest yarn shop to my new apartment.

This what it looks like on the outside...











...and this is what it looks like on the inside.














Here's some of the yarn. I think this would be the "heavy worsted" to "chunky" display.



















It's sad how long it took me to figure out that the yarns were arranged by gauge. (Imagine that, a yarn store named "Gauge" that is arranged by gauge.) The little signs referred to stitches per inch. (Or at least I assume so. What would you do with yarn that is 1-3 inches per four inches?)







This is the lounge in the back. (Everyone in this picture looked up at me, confused, when the flash went off.)

There will be knitting groups and classes back there. Once the class schedule is set, there will be official "scheduled" knitting groups. Of course, as long as the room is free, anyone can come hang out and knit.

Also, see those books on the bookshelves? That's the "library." You can check out those books for two weeks. They also have Wi-Fi.


The owners have taken a lot of care to decorate the place. This display greets you at the door, including some jewelry that's for sale. (They have some t-shirts for sale, too.)











This little display shows some of the notions they have for sale. They have some ribbons and tape that will be perfect when I get around to knitting the Everlasting Bagstopper.












Here's another cool display of buttons and notions.














Here is a display of yarn by the sofa in the back room.














This was the only problem I found. I want to touch the Vegas. But can I? If so, how do I get it out? (This is the first place I've seen it, and I didn't see it available in the other parts of the store.)


(Another yarn I saw, but somehow didn't get a picture of, was Peace Fleece. It was the first place I'd seen it other than online. They even had their needles.












Speaking of yarn, this was on the front table display, and was also for sale. Vintage yarn! The label says 90% Virgin Wool, 10% "Vinyon" (I think.) Apparently, Vinyon is an early version of Rayon (Viscose.) Did I mention that I love old yarn labels?













Someone described Gauge as a "boutique" yarn shop. Not packed to the gills, but offering carefully selected brands. I was worried this meant I wouldn't be able to afford anything. But look, Lion Cotton and Cotton Ease! (I imagine they're mainly for beginners and classes. Everyone needs dishcloth cotton, and Cotton Ease is probably better for garments than Wool Ease in this climate.)

But if you are a true fiber snob, never fear. They also have...




...100% Mongolian Cashmere and...














...handspun yarn by Jamie Harmon (one I haven't heard of before) and...














...Claudia Hand Painted Silk Lace. This is the same stuff Lynn used to make her Icarus shawl.












Finally, this is Carly, the owner. (I hope I spelled it right.) She's "checking out" my copy of Handknit Holidays. (I had to look at it after listening to the Stash and Burn review of it.) Carly used to work at Hill Country Weavers. She remembered me before I remembered her.

I guess that's it for now. When I went with Lyndsey on Sunday, they all loved my latest "mystery" project. (I can't post it because it's for a Knitty submission.) I couldn't afford to buy anything this time around, but I'm looking at the handspun and the Claudia's Hand Painted for my next trip.

Oh, and there are some pictures of the official grand opening that I missed here.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

If you read my last entry you know that I did some hand washing recently. And if you know me, you are probably shocked. Because I rarely clean anything. I'm too lazy busy. It's all about priorities.

But, with serious plans for Claudia Hand Painted yarn, and my Cherry Bomb Tank Top in desperate need of washing, I decided to take drastic action.

The first order of business was to clean my bathroom sink. Keep in mind I've only been in this apartment for about 2 months and I'm still moving in.

Before:



After:



That was step one. The next step was to find the sample bottle of Kookaburra Woolwash I had picked up at some point. So I looked...

And I looked...

And I looked...

And I was about to give up when I found it.

I was a bit concerned about using "wool" wash on a top made out of a 100% cotton (Katia Jamaica). After some looking, I discovered that Kookaburra has lanolin in it, which didn't sound like a very good idea for cotton. I finally decided to skip the tank top and just wash my swatch.

The directions said about 1 teaspoon per gallon. Does that look about right?

I ended up adding a little more. It didn't feel very soapy. But I read suds doesn't necessarily equal clean.









I swished it once or twice in the water and let it soak. No bleeding, which is good for hand painted yarn. I soaked it in rinse water a couple of times and dried overnight.

So now I stuck wondering what to do about my tank. I was surprised that Amy Singer didn't go into more depth on washing cotton in No Sheep For You. However, she does stress the importance of swatching and washing swatches. Before you commit to a sweater. Someone online also recommended the swatch. *sigh* Am I going to have to post-swatch? The good news is that I have almost an entire skein of the yarn leftover. The bad news is I'm going to have to waste use it on a swatch after I finished the sweater.

The other bad news: at least one other person online told me that Katia Jamaica bleeds.

Well, I bought some lavender baby shampoo, and it looks like I'll be swatching some more. We'll see what happened.

(Added bonus: Eucalan offers free wool wash samples when you send a self-addressed, stamped envelope.)

Swatch: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns, Sport Weight

After much debate, I came home from the Hill Country Weavers sale on Thursday with some Claudia Hand Painted Yarn (sport weight.) One skein in "Circus Dancer" was put aside for swatching and a small project, like a hat.

Because I have a more involved project for the rest. I decided to do the whole thing and even wash the swatch. I cast on 24 stitch and worked a portion in stockinette stitch and a portion in garter stitch. I used size 2 needles from my Boye Needlemaster set. I was at my knitting group when I did it, and I was worried about it being too loose. (Again with my loose gauge.) I think it was because I had to make the Knucks so tight. In the ends I ended up with 6 stitches per inch (Officially 24 stitches and 34 rows per 4 inches)



Then I washed the swatch in Kookaburra Wool Wash. The wet swatch is on top and the dry swatch is on the bottom.




I couldn't really tell the difference. Between the two. The gauge stayed the same. It is a bit softer. I don't know if there was bloom officially. I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, I'll put this aside for later. I bought two more colors I plan to use. The dark one is "Argyle Socks" and the lighter one is "Just Plum."



This is the last time you will see them. I have top secret design plans for these yarns.

So I actually swatched and did the whole washing thing. Amy Singer recommends keeping a swatch diary. For now, I post them on my blog. On my livejournal, I already have a swatch for Patons Classic Merino (felted.)