Sock sadness

I cast on for my sock (for the third time) yesterday. So far, as is going well, I worked about 10 rows in 2x2 rib and am now well into the stockinette section. The bamboo needles are great and switching from 4 needles to 5 was the best idea ever. If I could recommend one thing with regards to knitting your first pair of socks, it would be this: don't knit late at night. This knitting-in-the-round business requires a lot of concentration, but my brain tends to stop functioning around 11pm. So I woke up this morning and discovered 3 fairly big holes in my work and an extra seven stitches. Seven! I don't know what happened, I guess I experienced memory-loss knitting, but I could not be bothered to fix it (after all, these are only house socks) so I decreased back to the original number of stitches and carried on. I'll... fix the holes later. Nah, really though, they should be covered up when I make my first tuck. Damn socks. What kind of a fool knits socks anyway?! I can get socks at Primark for 50p! Sure, they may be acid-green and give me herpes of the foot, but at least it is instantaneous sock gratification. I'm miffed at socks so tonight I am knitting the final sleeve of what I shall call The World's Most Boring Cardigan. Wish me luck.

Boy oh boy

I met my first boy knitter yesterday! I was in the yarn section at John Lewis (I'm pretty sure they're getting sick of my face there) and I walked past a guy who works with The Yank. I gave my typical 'I-don't-really-know-you' smile and a 'I-can't-be-arsed-to-talk-to-you' 'Hi' and started heading to the needles, then did a double take. A boy! Buying wool! For himself! So I went and had a chat with him, helped him pick out some wool and tried my hardest not to find it weird that he was a boy knitter. I've never met one before and was starting to question whether they really existed.

To solve my sock issue, I ordered a set of 5 bamboo DPNs, so my project is on hold until they get here. That's probably a good thing, since I tend to rush things and mess them up. I ordered Folk Socks: The History and Techniques of Handknitted Footwear which has a variety of different heel and toe techniques which I'll probably sample, since I have not been having much luck with short rows.



I also ordered Heartfelt: The Dark House Collection (currently seems to be out of stock everywhere, but you can order from the author's website). I've heard good things about Kim Hargreaves and the patterns in this all look great. I particularly want to try my hand at Emily. However, we shall see, because it uses the slippery Kid Classic (we'll see how I go with the bamboo needles), I'm not sure I qualify as an 'average knitter', plus I should probably finish the cardigan my mum spent £25 on the yarn for. Erp!

Socks away

So I cast on today for my first proper pair of socks. Already, I am having many issues. I am knitting the Slouch Socks from Love to Knit Socks. I chose this pattern because it's straight stockinette with no ribbing, and the slouchy ruches hide a multitude of sins (in theory). I, very wisely, made a practice sock from a giant ball of spare yarn I inherited from my grandmother. I needed the practice of knitting in the round, and I wanted to try out knitting heels and toes at least once before I launched into the real thing with my shiny new wool. The practice sock came out... okay. It's kind of lumpy, kind of holey, but overall I'm pretty pleased that I managed to create something sock-shaped. However, I am having so much trouble now I've cast on for the real thing. I'm using Rowan Kid Classic and it's so slippery. I planned to work a few rows of 2x2 rib, a slight modification to the pattern, but I am struggling so far. I had to frog my first attempt yesterday. So here's my plan: try knitting while not watching The Prisoner. I don't think I can concentrate on two such complicated things at once. I'm abandoning it for this evening, but will pick it up again tomorrow. I'm thinking bamboo DPNs might help counteract the slipperiness of the yarn. Now if you'll excuse me, I have episode 3 to be getting on with.

Because I need another form of procrastination

This will mostly be a blog about stuff I make, largely knitting projects. It is partly to keep track of all the things I'm working on and any problems I am having. It may also be about random crap, we shall see. Mostly, I'm just hoping that if I write all these things down, I won't have to bother my boyfriend with them and watch him lose the will to live as I once again talk about swatching and frogging.