Darn socks & Blend-a-long part 1 -- Ply blends

More things off the table today. 8 socks darned - yes I darn handspun, handknit socks. Usually though, I will replace heels instead of darning. This is not really picture worthy as they just look like really old socks and sometimes have heels of different colors.

Two second mousing gauntlets done. Again, no pics as you have seen these. Like second sock syndrome, SSS, I have problems with glove pairs. But I am all done but one.

The wonderful Habetrot has put up my humble little sheep on her famous site. Gee, I feel honored. It's like making the cover of Time Magazine for sheep paintings. I have been enjoying her many knitting and sheep graphics since she started her site. But she really blew my mind when she brought my attention to the Latvian mitten collection. Full of knowledge, fiber-oriented and a wicked sense of humor - any wonder why I love this woman?

Ply Blends
I have been getting a lot of emails to slow down this blend-a-long until people without an enormous stash could get some fiber shipped. Fair enough. No photos of finished blends for a few days until everyone can catch up.

In the first part, we will determine a personal unit length, then spin 9 unit lengths of each of our 4 colors. We will create our two-ply blends. Then either cable these together or just hold 2 two-ply strands together for a swatch. We will repeat these steps for each of 4 colors as per the chart below.

This is ply blending only. All of our singles will be a solid color. In part II, we will get to using carded blends. This is a great exercise for spindles.

Here is the chart for this first part. A unit is whatever you define. For myself, A unit will be 3 armlengths as I go into the wheel or about 2.5-3 feet. Remember that for my colors, I chose Green and Purple, but you substitute your own colors here. You will need the black and white.

I will ply 3 units with like color (BB), and ply 3 units with opposite color (BW). Repeat for each of 2 colors and 2 neutrals as per chart.

It may sound a little confusing, but you are only making 9 total blends in this section, as per the middle chart.

Tips
Try to spin evenly so your sample shows color and not size variation.

Instead of a swatch, consider making socks, fingerless gloves, or some other small project with our samples. This way you will see your results and be able to show them off at guild meetings. If you plan this, you might need solid black to separate your rows. And since ply-blending is 4 ply but everything else will be two or three ply, you might want to spin thinner for the ply-blends.

In the carding sections, you could also comb. If you don't own cards or combs, consider a set of cat or dog brushes, or dog combs. I will be using the dog brushes for the carded section as I only want a short stripe of two rows.

Gates of delirium

Yes, folks, I am back! Fever is a bad, bad thing. I did manage to knit and spin a bit finally, but I am weak and shaky still. The sock yarn is all drying now and will show up another day, but this is some silk, Rambo and yak down. The mousing mitts were for my DH but they ended up being a little loose. We plan to overdye them a nice rich wine color. So what you see below just got all ripped out and is being reknit. I want them perfect before dyeing. I want some serious blooming of the yak in the dyepot.


And I am off and running on some socks. I like the Ram's Horn, but the side gussets were just not wide enough for the big guy's freakishly large instep. Fitting socks on him has been a difficult task at the best of times. These socks are made of Romney and are made to stand a lot of wear, so knit quite tightly. I love them but I ripped out too and have restarted. Notice the subtle color change in the orange? It just makes them more lively in person.


So is it your instep that sits opposite of the heel? And when making an afterthought or peasant heel on a sock, should I pick up more than half or less than half if his instep is large? Oh, I just never get this right. Unless his socks are ribbed, he just can't pull them over his large heel/instep/ankle area. I am happy to take all suggestions. The area measures larger than his full calf, with slim ankles. How the hell do you fit this?

I added 1x1 gussets that I increased in this area and hope that works. This sock is in its third incarnation.

Moral: Knitting with a fever is a bad idea and will lead to much ripping. Drink soup, watch old movies and don't pick up those needles.

Flitting badly

I seem to be jumping from project to project. I am a glutton at the yarn feast on my living room table. It is a good thing for my arms too. I am stretching my knitable hours out by switching to smaller and larger projects. A few rows here, a few rows there and things are getting done. If I didn't switch, I would suffer the dreaded elbow tendon problems that had me out of commission for 4 months last year. Four months without knitting, spinning or anything fun. Four months not even being able to hold a book. Made me more than a little nuts.

So today's finished items are a pair of alpaca and wool gauntlets (the other one is drying) for mousing. The big guy also got a pair of silk, Rambo and yak mouse gautlets but they are drying too and you shall see them tomorrow. Think it's been cold here? We both have to wear gloves to mouse around.

I seem to be doing a lot of garter. I haven't for about 20 years, but here it is all over my current projects. I love the edge you get on two color garter when you (remember to) twist those stitches.

My socks are garter too. Oh, and had I read the pattern before, I would have known they were refootable. Actually a wonderful place for people to learn the technique. And yes, before you ask, I am purposely putting the corners at the top of the sock.

All this garter is really setting in. I was at Knitpicks and saw they had up the Einstein coat in one of their yarns. Then it hit me - you know the 'play the match game' moment. I had this great yarn in just about the right gauge. And I always wanted to make the Einstein. Got gauge, woohoo! And I was off before my swatch was even dry. I am using Atlantic in grape. And is it going fast.

For those unfamiliar it is the Einstein Coat from The Knitting Experience by Sally Melville, book 1. I think everyone has already made this coat, it was so popular. And I had swatched in the called-for lopi. But the Altantic is firmer and so much nicer. It won't seat out like some yarn. At first, I thought it was going to be only good for rugs - it was stiff and trashy. But once washed it turned soft and lovely.

Originally I thought about a felted bag and the swatch was just so soft after washing that it stuck around as a coaster because I wanted it to be a sweater instead. Not the match game worked and I have a jacket rapidly forming under my needles.

Spin, span, spun

Been a busy little spinner girl, I have. See that big basket of superwash merino? I have been turning it into lovely spongy twisted sock yarn. What fun. It comes out of the bag very dull. It is dull and, OK - a little clumpy, when I spin it. It becomes this fun shiny springy and surprisingly smooth stuff when it is spun. How cool is that? A magic eraser for quick bad spinning.


I have also been working on some soft Rambouillet. This just keeps going and going. I couldn't add my leg to the skein photo for scale, but if I had, you would see that skein is as thick as my thigh. And it is only 6 oz. I must have a gajillion yards there. I just love spinning with no project in mind. Makes me really have some great project dreams.

And my last entry for the day is a tiny little computer wristlet in garter of some baby alpaca leg wool and Nature Spun Fingering doubled. I am spindle-spinning this as I knit. I plan just to have a button hole thumb for best mousing.