the Akamai Knitter

After a fun-filled evening with the Aloha Knitters, I came home itching with good knitting vibes and anxious to start a new pair of socks. I was particularly inspired to start a pair with a special hank of yarn that I received from the ever generous Sue of Mommy Susie Knits. It’s Socks That Rock in the colorway For Love In Idleness. (I do believe that the color is discontinued, but correct me if I’m wrong.)

I wanted a simple tried and true pattern so I chose Monkey by one of my favorite designers Cookie A., but I ran into a snag. As I knit, I developed major pooling issues. Too much for my taste.

I was disappointed because 64 sts is the magic number for Cara of January One. I had high hopes that it would hold true for me. Plus, I really had my heart set on a pair of Monkeys.

I even tried going to a smaller needle in the vain hope that it would somehow solve the pooling problem. I soon realized that it wasn’t going to solve anything.

I finally threw my hands up in defeat. Sixty-four is not my magic number. Not when it comes to Socks That Rock. I decided to try the Monkeys again later with a different type of yarn.

Still, if 64 isn’t my magic number there must still be a number out there that will work for me. Then I remembered a pair of socks that I made with STR that came out beautifully. I decided that if it worked for me then it should work for me now.

So I turned to another tried and true pattern and proceeded to cast on. After a couple of inches I knew I hit the jackpot. I found it! Seventy-two is my magic number!

Is it sad and pathetic that I did a little jig with my sock because I was so stinkin’ happy that there’s no pooling whatsoever? If it is, I don’t think I care. I am totally and blissfully in love with how this is turning out. The crappy pictures don’t do it justice. The colors are a lot deeper and more jewel-toned.

I’m not the only one who’s fallen in love with these either. My mother absolutely loves them and in a fit of generosity, I offered to knit these up for her instead. Since she only has one pair of handknit socks, I’m more then happy to do so. :)

Have a great weekend and thanks so much for reading!

Since I last checked in, I ripped out the Marina Piccolo socks, I caught the flu, I had a birthday, and after much experimentation I came up with a sock that I’m happy with.

Here we have Friday Harbor (Ravelry link), from the book Knitting On The Road, in Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Juniper. I have never seen a sock make my leg look fat, but here we have it. A big, fat ol’ leg.

I think it’s the diamonds. The diamonds are death to the skinny leg.

Next up, we have Waterfall Socks in Fearless Fibers Glorious Green. I apologzie for the blindingly white leg. Apparently, I don’t tan even though I live in Hawaii. :-P

Basically, you can barely see the pattern. Only the more I look at it, the less I mind. I think it has a subtle charm to it. Still, I wasn’t completely happy with it and it got some rather lukewarm reviews at knit night. So these were relegated to the back burner on Thursday night. Who knows though, maybe I’ll bring them back out again.

After that, I didn’t touch anything sock related until Sunday night. That’s when I decided that I had recovered enough from the flu to pick up the sock needles once again.

Much hemming and hawing occurred over which pattern to use. I finally came across Queen of Cups and I thought that it’d be hard to mess these up in a solid color. So I picked out some solid Opal yarn and got started.

I’m not sure this is a spectacular sock, but I’m enjoying the knitting. In fact, I manged to finish the cuff and turn the heel.

As for my birthday, I was very pleased to spend the whole day watching football (Go Cowobys!) and baseball (Go Red Sox!). Also, my mother gave me one of the best presents I’ve ever received from her. A gift certificate for Isle Knits! I’ve been plotting on how to best spend it.
And even though this wasn’t exactly a birthday present, I was touched by the cute little magnet blogless Michelle gave me a couple of weeks ago. It’s a cap off one of the local drinks. I can’t remember which one. If one of the local gals reading this knows, please give a holler!

Isn’t it cute?

Another unintended birthday gift was a prize I won from Jenny Raye of Loves to Bike and Knit. I entered a contest to celebrate her blogiversary and was a lucky recipient of two great books.

So even though I’ve been feeling less then stellar, life is still pretty damned good. :-)

When I knit a sock, I want the pattern to shout “look at me!” I want the yarn and the pattern to coexist in a perfect state of harmony. Unfortunately that seems to be too much to ask of my latest sock project.

The pattern is Marina Piccolo in the yarn Artyarns Ultramerino 4, color number 108.

It’s not that I don’t love the pattern. It’s not that I don’t love the yarn. The two together? No. Not so much. All I hear from this sock is “busy, busy, busy.”

Actually, I don’t really think they look all that horrible together. It’s just that I know that the pattern would look so much better in a different yarn and that the yarn is probably crying to be knit in a different pattern. Except my brain has been in such a fog lately that I can’t seem to get the right mix of pattern and yarn together to save my life.

Another problem is that I don’t hate it enough to frog it all just yet. I don’t love it enough to want to knit much on it either. It’s been languishing for the past two days in my work basket and I haven’t had the urge to pick it up.

Are my expectations too high? Is this a perfectly acceptable sock and I’m just not seeing it? Or do you all agree that this just is not working? Is my whining grating on your nerves yet?

I think it’s time to put the socks down, find something else to knit, and take deep calming breaths.

After the sad loss to the New England Patriots yesterday, I’m taking comfort in a finished pair of socks and the UH win against San Jose. If my NFL team is no longer undefeated this season, at least my college team still is.

Pattern: Rococo Socks by Anne Hanson

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in China Blue

Needles: Size 0US/2.00mm

Started: October 3, 2007

Finished: October 12, 2007

No modifications other then a change of needle size.

These were only my second pair of toe-up socks and I really enjoyed them. I used a provisional cast-on for a short-row toe as stated in the pattern. I was a little worried about holes but as you work back down the toe, Anne has you do a second wrap around each stitch. This seems to solve the problem of holes in the toes and heels quite nicely.

Another detail I really liked was the lace rib at the top of the sock. It’s just the right design element to set off the beautiful stitch pattern.

I enjoyed knitting these socks immensely and I can’t believe how quickly they knit up. Luckily, my mother loves them as much as I do and has requested a pair in grey. This also means that I get to hunt up some more sock yarn since I don’t have any grey in my stash. What a chore that will be. ;-)

The Clapotis. It is finished.

Pattern: Clapotis

Yarn: Plymouth Boku; Color No. 3

Needles: Size 8US/5.0mm

Started: September 23, 2007

Finished: October 9, 2007

I can’t call this a scarf. It’s just too big. There’s no way it could comfortably sit around my neck, even if I were so inclined. Instead I’ll be using this as a stole to keep the chill of the air conditioning away at the cafe where the Aloha Knitters meet every week.

I didn’t even knit all twelve repeats of the straight section. Instead I stopped at ten, mostly because I was convinced I was going to run out of yarn. Luckily, I did have enough since I know for a fact that my LYS has sold out of this dye lot.

I had such a good time with this project despite my yardage fears. The stockinette stitch was a soothing alternative to all the lace that I’ve been knitting and the dropped stitches were a fun novelty.

Plus, I’m really in love with the yarn. The color changes helped keep me motivated and the soft texture kept me smiling. There was a small issue where the yarn broke as I came across a rather too loosely spun piece of it. Since that happened only once, I think that was the exception, not the rule.

All in all, this project is a winner. The most telling sign is the post-project depression that’s set in. I’m casting about for a new project to help me through it, but it’s been tough. Maybe I can make another for a Christmas present? :)

P.S. Due to popular consensus, the kitty has been designated a girl cat and has been named Coco Daisy. Thank you all for your input!