Playdate Baby Cardigan

Here's an updated photo of the baby cardigan.

Twig asked if the baby cardigan pattern were knit sleeve to sleeve, so I thought here would be a better place to answer than in the comments. This darling sweater--it turned out remarkably well, don't ya think--is knit from the bottom back to the bottom front. You knit the back to the armholes, increase 5-6 times per side to get the sleeves, and then start to knit the width of the sleeves, while at the same forming the neck by binding off and then casting back on. You also split the front and add a 2nd skein of yarn to form the cardigan front. Once the sleeve depth is reached, decrease 5-6 times, then continue knitting the front with 2 skeins of yarn. The only modification I did was to the neck opening. It looked too unfinished, so I added a crochet border.

Marathon Knitting

Knitting took over my life for much of the weekend. I finished two projects~~the Ski Retreat socks and the knitting of the baby cardigan. The sock went fairly quickly; it was the cardigan that took the lion's share of the time.

At first I thought I would make the raglan from Debbie Bliss's The Baby Knits Book, but the further I got into it, the more I thought a cardigan would be better, particularly with the change of season approaching. So, I pulled out Vogue Knitting Baby Gifts and made Playdate, a cardigan knit all in one piece from the back bottom edge to the front bottom edge. Here are the details:

Pattern: Playdate, a knit in one piece baby cardigan, by Vogue Knitting

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a country blue--3 skeins

Needle: size 8

Start date: January 28, 2006

Finish date: January 29, 2006 (just need to sew it together)

Size: 6-9 months, although it blocked a little longer, so I suspect the babe will be able to wear it into next winter--he's two months old now.

Modifications: I didn't like the unfinished look of the collar, so I added a single crochet all the way around and still wasn't quite satisfied. Turned and added another single crochet around--perfect! Oh yeah, I made five buttonholes, instead of four, and bought baseball buttons--cute!

The Ski Retreat socks details:

Pattern: Basic sock pattern--my old standby on Magic Loop

Yarn: Briggs and Little Tuffy in brown, 2 skeins with some left on each

Needle: size 6 Addi Turbo

Gauge: 5 spi over stockinette

Start date: January 13, 2006

Finish date: January 28, 2006

Specifics: Figure 8 cast on (will be trying Turkish cast on next pair of socks), increased to 38 stitches for foot (I changed this to 40 for the second pair--the first was a tad snug), knit 8.5 inches before knitting in scrap yarn for afterthought heel (actual foot length is 10.75 in--I found that subtracting 2.25" is just about right for this heel), 1.25" of plain knitting after scrap yarn, then 8" of 3x2 ribbing over 40 stitches. I tried the afterthought heel decreased at 4 points rather than 6. It made the first heel a little small, so I modified the second and it fits ds better--increased to 54 stitches and decreased slower--knit two rows plain, then decreased, repeat until hit 36 or 32 stitches left, then decreased each row. When 12 stitches remained, I kitchenered the hole. Had no trouble with the kitchener stitch--excellent tutorial at the socknitters website--scroll down a bit. Ds reports they are much softer after their bath--they'll never be merino, mind you, but they are softer.

Yesterday I took the extra ball of Cashmerino aran back to lys and exchanged it for Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. In my tour of the 'net looking up old Sockapalooza patterns I found many, many beautiful socks. A large percentage of them came from this book, so I knew I had to have it. After thumbing through it last night I found that I want to knit about 80% of the patterns!

In addition I had my two budding knitters come over yesterday for a quick lesson in purling. Their knitting was okay--they both were using tough yarn for learning, so I gave them some of mine, and they were doing much better before they left. Seems like they picked the purling up even quicker than knitting. I may meet with them one more time before I start the sock class on the 10th.

I also finally got the back of my FLAK cardigan on the needles. It took me much of the morning to get the charts into Excel and looking decent. On my screen they looked fine, but when I would click 'print preview' they were askew, overlapping.....just a mess. Took three tries to finally get it right. I deleted the extra purls between each cable, so now each is separated by one purl. I felt like in my swatch the extra purls made the pattern spread out too much. My cross shoulder measurement is 17 in--yep, I have squarish broad shoulders--and I think according to my math, the back comes out to 16.8 in, although I had left out a couple of purls from the pattern, so I may be right at what I need. I added a knit stitch at the ends of each row as selvedge for picking up the sleeves. A total of 120 stitches were picked up/cast on: 39 on each saddle and 42 at the neck. After casting on, I had only done a row of purls before I found that my hands were too sore from the marathon knitting over the weekend to continue knitting, so I put down FLAK in favor of the book that arrived through interlibrary loan. Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English was unexpectedly awaiting me at the library when I went to pick up season 2 of 24 for viewing while I ride the stationary bike. I'm only a few chapters in and find that this is a book I must own--I don't think I've ever knit a sweater pattern exactly as prescribed in a pattern, so this book should be a big help in making modifications I find necessary for a better fit.

Knitting planned for today~~get the pattern established for the FLAK back ( just realized as I was typing the above that I should have knit row 1 of the chart after casting on--not a row of purls, so I will have to start with row 2 of the chart--the first right side row. I knew I was too tired to be working on that last night.), pick up working on my swap pal's socks, and maybe some of dd's socks, but first I need to sew together the baby cardigan.

Updates and Knitting Olympics

Just a quick post to let you know about two new groups related to the Knitting Olympics. Lanie has started a group in support of USA knitters. And Trek has set up a blog for Team USA socknitters. My entry will be Jaywalkers using the Socks that Rock from a previous post--not sure which colorway yet, but at least I have finally settled on an entry.

I've been knitting along, hence the lull in postings to my blog. I'm under the gun timewise for several projects. This morning I finished ds's ski retreat socks--ends need to be woven in and then it will get a bath--pictures posted once that is done. I cast on a baby sweater for a shower next Friday night--using DB'c cashmerino aran for the first time--what a yummy yarn. Progress photos to be posted along with the sock photos from above.

Yesterday I worked with two neighbor girls teaching them to cast on and knit. Both have done this some in the past, but needed a refresher course. Starting Feb 10, I will be teaching sock knitting using Magic Loop to kids/moms from our homeschool group. These two girls needed to bump up their knitting skills before beginning the class. I sent them home with yarn, needles, and a book to practice with. Monday we will work on purling.

Swap socks and dd's socks are both on hold until the baby sweater is complete. It is still my goal to have them all off the needles by Feb. 10. I can't even begin to think about casting on the back of my FLAK cardigan. I want to. I really do. But. I. Must. Not.

Back in the (Bike) Saddle Again!

Was able to get out for a ride on the Trek today! Air was brisk, but I was able to shed the full-finger gloves after 4 miles. My face and ears are nice and rosy though. Did 17 miles at a not-so-great pace, but I've been off the bike since the end of November, other than the stationary bike, and that doesn't compare to riding outside. Today I needed this more than I even needed knitting!!! I feel like a new woman! The next ten days look promising for more rides in the great outdoors!

FLAK Directions are UP!!!

Just wanted to let my dear readers know that the directions for Part 4 of the FLAK are up! Read 'em carefully guys, we're getting to the good stuff! The BACK!!!! I wonder how long I will be able to hold off getting the back OTN.........

Sockapalooza!!!!

Just signed up for Sockapalooza!!! Hope I make the cut!!!

Whoo hooo! Next part of FLAK is due out today, too!!!

Oh, and I cast on two socks on one circ for my Socknitters Sock Swap partner--trying a new ribbing on this pair. Not much else was accomplished today~~cleaning house this morning, school with the kids, 3 yo coming down with something, and Mom's Night Out! Now that I got my registration in for Sockapalooza, I can go to bed.

'Night, 'night everyone!

Two Socks Down.....

.....two to go. Sigh. I don't think I'll make my goal of having both these pairs of socks finished by the time Janet releases the next part of the pattern for the FLAK on Tuesday. Well, there's no thinking about it. I WON'T have them finished. I just cast-on the second of my dd's pair tonight. And the yarn for ds's 2nd just was wound into a center pull ball while watching the Carolina/Seattle game. Not much to watch there, from what I saw--totally one-sided. I need to have ds's finished by the first weekend of February. Also by the 10th I need to have a pair of socks finished for a swap on Socknitters. I'd like to have my plate relatively clean before the Knitting Olympics start. The only things that I want unfinished at that point are FLAK and St. Ciaran.

Meanwhile, I did actually do some other knitting this weekend. I knit some more on St. Ciaran and.....well ......besides the socks, that's about it. You can see it over there to the right--it's the left half of the pattern plus the entire center panel. I'm just a few rows into the next pattern after the garter stitch break for the center panel. The garter stitch does not mark the end of the first pattern repeat for this panel--I still have 20-24 rows to go. Only the first panel has repeated the row pattern so far. All the others are in excess of 50 rows per repeat. I know it doesn't look like it, but that's because I haven't finished the repeat yet. There are decreases and increases acoming.

Am Kamin is in an indefinite holding pattern, at least until after the Knitting Olympics. I'm still waiting on several design books from the library--some were checked out of my local library and some are coming interlibrary loan. I LOVE interlibrary loan. I'm in a smallish county (not tiny, but small) and while our local library is quite good, it can't have everything that a knitter wants on its shelves. Neither can I afford to have all those wonderful books on my shelves at home--what to do? Enter interlibrary loan. First off, it's FREE in our county. The library picks up the tab for shipping. Although, with the amount of money I've paid in fines over the last 16 years we've lived here, I've paid for my ILL books and then some. Second, it's pretty quick. I've found that most books come from neighboring metropolitan areas--mainly Va Beach/Norfolk/Chesapeake. Typically the books can be kept out longer than a normal checkout which is 4 weeks. The drawback is that they cannot be renewed. I think that this is a wonderful service to offer to the community and use it often! I'd say between 40 and 50% of the time my library will actually order the book I want for its own collection--provided, of course, that the book is still in print. With knitting books, this is often rare. So, I'm waiting on these design books, so that I can learn about designing knitwear. I'd like to redesign the sleeves, front, and saddle of Am Kamin.

Oh yeah, I forgot to report on what the mail carrier delivered on Saturday! Four back issues of Twists and Turns newsletter by Janet Szabo, as well as her I Hate to Finish Sweaters Guide. This will also be used in the redesigning of Am Kamin. Already I've picked out several patterns from the 4 back issues that I want to make down the road.

I still haven't made a definite decision about my Knitting Olympics entry, although I am leaning more and more toward Jaywalker socks. But I can't get Glorianna out of my mind. Anyway.... If you're knitting in an Olympic event you must check out the buttons at Jen/La's place! So far, I've only picked up the generic USA button, but once my entry is finalized I will add the appropriate button to the blog.

I had mentioned in a previous post the Trekking XXL sock yarn I bought from Carodan Farm. They are part of the new collection Merit--105 (browns) and 108 (blues). Aren't they great!?!? I can't wait to use them. Hurry--Carodan Farm has the Trekking on sale until the end of the month!

Found out today that our church is giving a shower on Feb. 4th for a couple which just adopted a baby. Poot. I don't think I can get anything done for that......I'd love to make something from DB's Baby Cashmerino. But what? Has to be something fairly small and uncomplicated since I'm under some time constraints. The babe is several months old now, as the process of finalizing the adoption has taken a while--they didn't want to have a shower before the adoption was final. They went through this previously only to have the natural parents take the baby back. Heartbreaking. Anyhoo.....any suggestions for a project? No blankets, as I'm sure they have enough of those already.

And I believe that brings you up-to-date. Later!

FLAK Saddles and Updates

Caution dial-up users: photo intensive post.

I finished my FLAK saddles this evening right before American Id@l Season 5 kicked off. I knew I couldn't concentrate on crossing the right way while watching/listening to the early auditions. Always a hoot and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone in our family, well, except for the 3yo. He would have preferred Buzz Lightyear or Nemo, so he went off to bed while we hooted and hollered, and stared openmouthed and aghast at the last contestant they passed through to Hollywood. Paula had to be paying Cowell back for something by passing that kid through.......but I digress.

My saddles are complete, and I like them a lot. They are sturdy and will definitely help support the weight of the sweater. Length 5.25 inches and slightly less than 3 inches wide. Sorry the photo is of poor quality--it's a gloomy day--rainy and very dark--so the camera had a hard time focusing. I didn't want to use the flash on the saddles as it will tend to obscure the shadows created by the cabling and make them look flat.

While watching tv I almost finished the ribbing on my ds #1's toe-up sock in Tuffy--these are for his ski retreat the first weekend in February. I'll get the afterthought heel done tomorrow and cast on the second. The blue line of yarn you see on his socks at the right is the two rows of scrap yarn I run in where the afterthought heel will go. After that I always knit 1.25" plain stockinette--makes the heel fit perfectly!


At SnB last night I got quite a bit done on dd's socks in Trekking--they are much slower going as the yarn is much finer. She can't seem to understand, that while her brother's sock may look bigger than hers at this point, I have actually spent more time on and knit more stitches in hers than his, even though I am only an inch into the ribbing on hers. Seems the length of the sock is the sign of how much I love her right now. Sigh. Teenagers......

On the Crossed in Translation front there is not much to report as I just received more yarn for swatching today. My box from KnitPicks arrived with 2 skeins of Wool of the Andes, and one each of Andean Silk and Sierra--all in cranberry. My first attempt at a new swatch will be with the Andean Silk as it is just heavenly to touch and the color is deep and rich. Love. It. I'm hoping that the stitch definition will be what I need, and that it will stand up well after washing and blocking. I hope to cast on tomorrow while ds#2 takes his nap--I'll save the socks for evening TV viewing knitting. Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll let you know how it goes.

One more thing, have you seen these wonderful new Ziploc bags? This is the extra-large size, I also saw an xxl at Walmart yesterday, but I didn't need one that big. They run right around $5 for a box of four. This one is holding some Caron So Soft acrylic yarn for baby blankets for two families at church--both are expecting babies (4th for each) in the next six months. I thought acrylic would be the safest and most economical for use with baby items since they tend to get washed so much. I have a blanket which my great-grandmother made for me before I was married. She intended it for use for my future babies. She died in 1988, so she never saw any of my children, but all three have been surrounded by her love each and every night as they sleep under that baby afghan she made more than 20 years ago. Anyway, I'm getting all weepy thinking about Granny....... So, the pattern I intend to use is this one for a patchwork blanket. The pattern calls for Rowan cotton/wool, but I've made the above substitution.

That should bring you just about up to date--other than the St. Ciaran--this is my inbetween project. I work on it when I have nothing else to work on, or when I am tired of the other projects. With more than 390 rows left, it will be a longterm wip!

Later!

Knitting Olympics!!!!

Yep, I'm officially a joiner! Stephanie is hosting the Knitting Olympics, and I somehow lost the few remaining brain cells I had left after having three kids and joined the competition! What was I thinking?!?!?

Now that I've joined the next step is deciding which project to choose as my challenge for the 16 day competition period. I have several possibilities, none of which involve the purchase of new yarn! That will make the husband happy. My choices include: Jaywalker socks by the one and only Grumperina. I must be just about the last knitter in blogland to have not knit this pattern yet. If I do take this one as my challenge, I will be doing a variation on the original, the toe-up version, which will hopefully earn me more points for difficulty or artistic merit or .......something. This would give me the opportunity to use some of my lovely Socks that Rock yarn. Another possibility is a second Elizabeth I scarf by JoLene Treace. I knit Dainty Bess as a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law; she writes that is already a favorite! It took me 3+ weeks of fairly steady knitting to complete, so to make Glorianna in 16 days would really be pushing it. Town and Country is the simplest of the three patterns and is doable, but still a stretch in that time frame. A third option is the Wool Peddler's Shawl from Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. I would be knitting this in a slightly heavier yarn than called for. Again, a push for 16 day completion, but I'm thinking the heavy worsted yarn may be an advantage here. What do you think I should choose?

Any of these would be a challenge to finish in 16 days, but I'm game! Are you?

CIT Swatching Part Deux

My latest swatch was using Peruvian Collection Highland Chunky from Elann. Here are the details:

Yarn: Highland Chunky Spiced Wine

Needle: Sz 7

Swatch blocked: 6.5 spi and 6.2 rpi. Right where I needed it to be.

Success, right? Wrong! This color is heathered and has some yellow running in it. The pattern of the stitches seems to be losing a battle with the colors in the yarn. It doesn't pop. The hand of the yarn is wonderful to knit with, it produces a wonderful fabric, just didn't like what this color did to the cables. The variation in color within the yarn does not show up on the Elann site, nor on my photo of the yarn in a previous post--although mine is a bit closer than the Elann. I will post a photo once the natural light here is a little brighter. (I'm not sure why this photo is showing the cables off so much better than it does in person. To be sure of my assessment of the yarn/cables I showed it to someone who is a knitter and asked her opinion--she thought the same thing I did. The camera just doesn't pick up the subtle variations in the yarn that detract from the cables in person. Just to be sure though, I will take the swatch to lys and get a 2nd and 3rd opinion.)

Due to the trouble that I've been having getting gauge for this pattern, I am rethinking my approach to the project. I would really like to adapt this pattern for me, truly make it mine instead of just fiddling with the pattern to make it just work. So here's what I'm thinking. I'd like to take what I'm learning with the FLAK and from The Sweater Workshop and redesign this sweater using a yarn I really love, instead of one that works, but that I'm not wild about. I'd like to change the sleeve from a raglan to a modified drop or modified raglan. I have Janet's 1st edition of Handbook of Aran Design and will use that one as well. So that's where I stand with this project today. I do have a couple more yarns on order from KnitPicks, but they will give me an opportunity to see what is out there. If I do go this route, it will give me a chance to possibly knit the sweater in B&L Regal, which is what I had planned on from the start. Who knows, down the line I may find a yarn that really speaks to me to be knit into this sweater. I love the feel of Cascade 220, but couldn't get gauge as required in the pattern. Here's my chance to revisit that yarn on a different needle and check the results.

It's a process, it's a process. With each seeming setback I'm growing more as a knitter.......

CIT Swatching

As I posted yesterday, my swatch yarn for CIT cardigan arrived Monday afternoon. I sat down last night with the Uros Aran (wool/llama) and cast on three of the cables from the pattern and a garter stitch border--for a total of 45 stitches. While watching Bond--Never Say Never Again--on AMC (as if we didn't get our fill of him over on Spike during the holidays)--I worked up a 31 row swatch (excluding garter stitch border). My information thus far for this yarn is as follows:

Yarn: Uros Aran from Elann (50/50 wool/llama blend)

Needle: sz 7 US

Stitches per inch unblocked: 39 stitches over 6 inches= 6.5 spi (shooting for 6.25)

Rows per inch unblocked: 31 rows over 5 inches= 6.2 rpi (shooting for 6)

Stitches per inch blocked:

Rows per inch blocked:

These measurements would give me an aran cardigan almost identical in size to one I wear quite a bit now. I'm hoping blocking will yield the results I seek. I'll post the rest of the numbers and a photo when the blocking is done and the swatch dry.

Edited to add: (January 13, 2006) Well, the yarn blocked to the size I needed, seemed a bit thin, but okay for our Virginia winters. However, the llama in the yarn bloomed quite a bit and obscured the lovely traveling stitches. While I love the feel of this yarn, it is just not suitable for this project. So back to the drawing board. I will post a photo of the swatch as soon as I get enough natural light. It is quite gloomy today. Again, just as in the above post, the camera is giving much more depth to the cables than they exhibit in person. Don't know why that is. Believe me, if the swatches really showed the definition in real life that they do in these photos, I'd be jumping for joy!

Yep, I'm Still Here!

Trek started to be concerned about my absence, so I thought I better update the ol' blog with what I've been doing. The holidays did a number on my housekeeping, so I spent yesterday straightening/cleaning the downstairs--absolutely NO knitting took place. I'm going through withdrawals! Today after school with the kids, I put the turkey carcass (we just had turkey on Sunday--so nice and homey feeling to walk into the house after church to the wonderful aroma of roast turkey) on to stew for soup later on--after ds #2 goes down for his nap after lunch I'll get all the meat off the bones, strain the broth, add onions, celery, leftover stuffing (my secret ingredient), seasoning, turkey meat, etc., to the broth and let it simmer most of the afternoon. About 1/2 hour before dinner I'll add noodles, and for dinner we'll have turkey soup and sandwiches. Yummmmm!!!! Comfort food! While everything is cooking I hope to reclaim the upstairs! Tomorrow.....laundry!

On the knitting front.....I finished my FLAK swatch last week and didn't have anything on the needles for a couple of days. I am seriously considering subsitituting a cable for the braid and honeycomb, but have not swatched yet. It's still just a thought running around in my head. On Thursday, Jan 5th, I cast on St. Ciaran--a shawl/throw/wrap from AS's Aran Knitting. I have loved this pattern for years and finally gave in to the urge to knit it after getting a tremendous deal on Bartlett Fisherman Dark Heather at Bo Beep Wool Shop where she was running a 50% off sale on in-stock items before Christmas. Fortunately she had tons of the above yarn in stock--I bought 11 skeins then, and just ordered 2 more in the same dyelot to insure that I have enough for the shawl/throw.

This is what I have so far--it's about 30-36 inches wide and 5-6 inches deep so far. I'm still not sure that I will have enough yarn to get me through the 422 rows! But I have enough to make it a good 60-70 inches long. It's called a shawl, but is so substantial, I'd call it a wrap or throw. I will use it more for a wrap/throw. I included the ball of yarn for scale--it's a 50 gm ball. I love the pattern--it really isn't too hard--surprisingly enough.

I've been waiting for my yarns to come so that I can swatch the CIT cardigan--they finally arrived late yesterday afternoon from Elann. Too late for me to get a look at the colors in natural light. I ordered 4 balls of yarn: two of Sierra Aran--a 80/20 blend of wool/alpaca in Sangria (too close to the color I used for Cinxia) and Garnet. I also got one skein of Uros Aran in Oxblood--a 50/50 blend of wool and llama and one of Chunky Highland in spiced wine.

Left to right are: Uros Aran in Oxblood, Sierra Aran in Sangria and Garnet, and Peruvian Highland Chunky in Spiced Wine. I hope to cast on a swatch with both the Sierra Aran Garnet and Uros Aran Oxblood--I'm sort of hoping that the Uros Aran will be the one that works as I think it would be cool to have a sweater of wool and llama. If neither of those work, then I'll have to try the Highland Chunky--but will order a different color if it is the one that works.

Ive been reading so much about Socks that Rock over at Cara's blog that I finally had to order some of my own!

Yes, those are the new 360 yard skeins! The colors are Farmhouse on the left and Lucy in the Sky on the right. They are so yummy!!! I can't keep my hands off them, so I finally resorted to putting them in the stash bin--but I still find myself at least once a day opening up the bin to admire them. When dd (13) saw them she gave an audible (read LOUD) gasp and said they were her favorite colors! No way, chickee, these are for mama! I have a pair of socks OTN for her in Trekking XXL, but I think I need to go down a needle size, so they are on hold until I can get a 40" sz 0. I also need to knit a pair of heavy socks for ds (16) before he goes on a ski retreat with church the first week of February, so the wonderful STR will just have to wait a bit! How will I stand it!?!?!

So, that pretty much brings you up-to-date with me and my knitting! Oh.....and btw--Happy New Year! In my excitement over my FLAK swatch and Trekking socks I forgot to wish everyone a great New Year! May 2006 be a blessing to all!

FLAK Swatch

Finished my FLAK swatch this morning and have blocked it. Here are the details:

Yarn: Briggs and Little Regal in Quoddy Blue

Knit dimensions: 38 rows of 100 stitches in cable patterns provided by Janet for swatching

Modifications to original: 1) turned one horseshoe cable upside down, 2) 3/4 of the way through the swatch I changed the wave to a simple 2-ply braid (from Harmony 220 Aran Stitches 6.2) over 6 stitches.

Measurements after blocking: 16 inches wide over 100 stitches= 6.25 st/in

Measurement of each panel:

horseshoe panel including 2 stitch twist: 6 inches wide by 5 inches tall

heavy braid panel with simple 2-ply braid and baby honeycomb: 5.75 inches wide by 5 inches tall

moss stitch panel: 4 1/8 in over 22 st so 5.34 st/inch and 4.5 in over 38 rows so 8.4 rows/inch

Click on the picture at right for a more detailed view......Go ahead, I'll wait.......... Okay, you're back....... Did you see those wonderful little bits of color? I don't know if they show well in this photo, but they lend such depth and changeability to this yarn. I just love it! Ignore the change in the wave cable......just my fickle nature deciding I wanted a different cable there. I'll add the numbers above as soon as the swatch is dry.

Socks for Me!!!

I just finished weaving in the ends on my Trekking 100 socks! I love, love them! How cool is this yarn?!?!? Definitely fraternal twins, but I don't see how you could get anything else with this yarn. Even as I neared the end of the second sock I was still seeing color combos for the first time. I hear that Trekking has some new colors with similar patterning! Whoo Hooo!

Details:

Yarn: Trekking XXL 100

Pattern: Basic toe-up sock; figure 8 cast on, stockinette foot (55 stitches--perfect; 7.25 inches from toe to waste yarn for heel-perfect), afterthought heel (66 stitches after picking up stitches between needles-perfect), 8 inch 3x2 ribbing

Needle: Addi Turbo 1

Start Date: December 23, 2005

Finish Date: January 1, 2006

This is the very first pair of socks I have knit for myself!!! My feet are very happy :o)

2005 Completed Projects

Aran Hat

Autumn Socks

Cinxia

Adult Big Hat and Farrow Rib Scarf

Farrow Rib Scarf #2

House Socks

Waffle Socks

Dainty Bess

Not Cable Socks

Basic 3x2 Rib Socks