Tag: knit socks

Carpet beetles!

October 13, 2025 / Deb / 0 Comments

Thank God they only got into some acrylic. The rest of my stash has been carefully gone over and it looks like just a few skeins that were in a box on the floor had our little friends in them. Still threw those away lest the rest of the lot get contaminated.

This is my fault for not thinking of the fact that we’d had the damned things in the past…like several years ago past. Assumed they were gone. Forgot them entirely. Sigh.

Making a pair of house socks for my daughter with obnoxiously bright acrylic. They’re coming out great, though the color sequence left the heel black and seeing that is difficult as hell seeing as how I’m fifty and all lol. So I’ve got to pick a nice sunny day and get that heel turned!

Tension

January 12, 2024 / Deb / 0 Comments

I’ve been switching back and forth between knit and crochet recently and it seems to be doing funny things to my tension. I really noticed it when I finally went back to Jewelled Star—I had to drop down a hook size to get the same gauge because my crocheting had become so much looser. It’s a problem I’ve never had before but it was remedied easily enough. I’m thankful that that is all it took to fix the problem; it would have been a pain to start over.

I’m seeing it in my knitting, too. I made this pair of ugly worsted weight acrylic socks just to prove that I could indeed still make a sock (thank you Silver’s Sock Classes!) The bumps and distortions from changes in tension didn’t even wash out. I think I was so stressed about keeping everything on the needles that I was knitting way too tight (the challenge of the gusset decreases proves this out) and every time I started to loosen up I’d tighten up again. This left some unattractive ridges, but I got a lesson and two socks out of the deal, so it wasn’t so bad.

The other factor I’ve noticed is just life. A bad day will leave me gripping my yarn for dear life, until I remember that even the toughest project should be one that brings me some form of happiness. I’m going to resist the urge to turn this into a big ol’ metaphor, but you can easily see how life outside of the fiber arts and life within them can sometimes do a delicate dance and how tension affects tension.

May all your projects be tensioned just as you want them, and all your crafting be calm. 🙂

experiments in throwing

January 1, 2024 / Deb / 0 Comments

So having returned to knitting with issues in my left hand I’m finding it super awkward to purl continental. I figured I could try knitting English and see if it was any smoother. The jury’s still out at this point, but it’s a possibility.

I did some random swatching to see if I could at least improve my purls when working them continental and that met with some success.

The biggest reason behind this is ribbing (which I haven’t practiced yet). I’m about to attempt socks again and I’m worried about getting them off to a good start (yes, I’ve settled on going cuff-down again). Tomorrow when I’m fresh I’m going to 2×2 my little heart out, assuming I can pull myself away from the day for a little while. It’s going to be a busy one.

Kool-Ade!

December 31, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

We dyed again!

The base yarn is KnitPicks Stroll Bare.

I didn’t get a picture of the third skein, which was done as a sock blank. It was a purple gradient that turned out just lovely. She painted it instead of dipping/soaking/immersing it and it turned out that there were places the dye couldn’t reach. It also turned out that the white enhanced the whole thing. Happy accidents, right?

The orange was dyed by my oldest the sock knitter, and the tomato-y red was me. It’s going to be socks, because that’s what feels right. Talk about a long term project though.

hooks and tools

December 27, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

Look what else I got for Christmas!

I’m so excited! I really like working with bigger yarns. I can’t wait to get my hands on some and make lovely chunky things.

In other news, I finished the second sock of the worsted lavender pair and though I’m super stoked to have done it I’m feeling like I don’t want to be near another sock anytime soon. Maybe if I get over it I’ll try toe-up and see if they drive me any less crazy.

Grain is coming along but I’m starting to feel like I overestimated my love of endless garter stitch. It’s beautiful but I’m more and more reluctant to work on it. I’m not sure I can keep it up for another few thousand stitches.

And last but not at all least, after some swatching and playing around I decided to keep the same hook on my big brown throw. Mostly it’s nice to be working on it again.

a small sock odyssey

December 16, 2023 / Deb / 0 Comments

So I have two new knitters/crocheters in the house and they are fearless. My oldest actually learned to knit by making their first sock. Fearless.

I’ve knit socks in the past but it’s probably been a dozen years. I got so excited over their sock, though, that I decided to relearn it. I grabbed some random worsted and Silver’s Sock Class and dove in.

Not going to lie, it was a bit of a struggle. And the finished product is a little rough, though it looks good in pictures:

I don’t think there’s any hope for the ribbing, it’s Red Heart Super Saver and between the lack of elasticity of the yarn (do not for a minute get me wrong, I *love* RHSS, it’s just better for some things than others) and my lack of skills on DPNs I’m not sure I’m going to do any better the second time. Still, it’s ribbing, it’s in the round, and in that sense it’s a triumph.

It took me a week to get to casting on the second one, but it’s started and I’ll have a pair of house socks soon. I’m actually really excited about this. I didn’t expect to knit another sock like, ever, so my wonky acrylic socks are a huge accomplishment.

Next step: sock weight yarn.