These are tiny balls of sock yarn that I got through a swap at Spring Fling last April for the purpose of doing this mini-mitred square sock yarn blanket, which I don't have a dream of starting anytime soon. In the mean time, I thought these balls were just too cute to keep hidden away in a Ziploc bag. Yesterday, when I was at Pier 1 on my continuingly frustrating search for some new year-around wreaths for the house, I found this hurricane globe. Perfect! Now I can enjoy the look of all those tiny balls every day until I actually choose to knit with them. Yarn as art, in a totally different way than usual. Love it!
And how about some pictures of yarn used in more traditional ways? One FO and some WIPs (SPOILER ALERT! The last picture is of my first Mystery Sock '09 cuff...if you're doing this KAL and don't want to see what the cuff looks like, don't scroll all the way to the last picture!):
First, the FO: my September charity hat...woo. LOL Just a plain vanilla hat made with some CPY Taso:
Next, the Heather Hoodie Vest (pattern in Fall 2009 Knitscene) I'm making for the girlie using Nashua Woolie Stripes.
This is as far as I've gotten on the back, but it's a good shot of the pretty cabling in the pattern. hopefully I'll continue to make progress on it even while I'm working away on Socktoberfest socks.
And speaking of Socktoberfest socks...here is the pair I'm making out of the Zombie yarn:
There's a big orange blob on my zombie! Does that mean it's name should be Blob Zombie? Ahahahahahaaa! Ahem. (The zombie puns...I'm just not running out of them.)
Notice anything different about this sock than all of the other socks I've ever made? Yes! I started from the toe! I took Wendy Johnson's Heels & Toes for Toe Up Socks class at Spring Fling, and then promptly ignored everything I learned because I still found the thought of the reversed process intimidating. I mean, I've always done my socks cuff down and it has always worked just fine, thankyouverymuch. Why change? (Wow...that is the same horrible argument so many people use for not making beneficial changes in the world! Ack!)
Then the other night, as I thought about what pattern I wanted to do -- originally it was going to be a broken rib hiking sock -- I realized I wanted a little more of a challenge, so I decided to try toe up. I had to watch a YouTube video to refresh myself on Judy's Magic Cast-On to start the toe, but it was really easy and the rest was just common sense.
As it turned out, the yarn started to pool quite vigorously after I got through the toe, and while I'm not horrified by pooling in general, it wasn't doing anything for me in the broken rib pattern. So I ripped back the patterned part and started over, deciding to just do a standard stockinette sock, but adding a cable along the left instep edge. (Thus, this is the left sock. The right sock will have the cable along the right instep edge.) Liking this much better.
Lastly, the cuff of my first Mystery Sock (last chance to turn back!):
I'm having the hardest time capturing the true color of this yarn. I think natural light is going to be key to getting right right. It actually looks like a stone-washed denim when it's knit up...not as gray and washed out as it looks here. But at least you can see the pretty openwork in the middle of the ribbing.
3 comments:
LOL your little comments in your blogs always make me chuckle. :) As always...love seeing the little projects you have going! How long does it take to finish a sock if you have the entire pattern and sat down to do it all at once? Just curious. :)
If I'm doing just a plain vanilla sock (meaning no special stitches, like cabling or having to follow a lace chart), and I work monogomously on the socks alone, I can finish a pair in less than a week. I rarely do that, though, because I'm not much of a monogomous knitter. LOL
I love yarn as art. I also love knitting needles in a vase as home decor! What else would one do with straight needles?
Good for you on trying toe up. I tried it, too. I still don't have a perfect fitting toe-up sock (unlike my cuff down ones), but it's an interesting exercise!
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