more nightie pics, and starting some socks for Shey

Hi friends! As promised I have a couple better quality pictures to show you of my lace nightie. I still haven't tried any sort of blocking or washing but I probably will soon. Right now we're still in the honeymoon phase though.

I just want to point out again that if you follow the pattern exactly you won't get the side shaping that looks like mine. That was my touch. I quite fancy it. It also won't be anywhere near as long. I'm pleased with the changes I made when I knitted this.

Now, on to my new project. Socks for my good friend Shey, who is currently braving the Chicago winter. I haven't gotten too far yet but I'm doing the Nine to Five Socks pattern and using Universal Yarns Ditto, which is a tad splitty but okay to work with so far. My gauge was 7.5 sts/inch, not the 8 sts/inch the pattern requires, so instead of going and buying 00 or 000 (!) circular needles so I can do my favorite two at a time magic loop method, I have removed a pattern repeat and cast on 66 sts instead of 72.

So far, all I have are some cuffs. But what lovely cuffs!

I just mentioned that nowadays I really only work socks two at a time using magic loop. I started out like most do using double pointed needles and working one sock at a time, but it really is difficult to start the second sock once you've completed the first. Also, when you work both socks at the same time, you don't have to worry about the socks coming out different sizes or forgetting that you made a slight alteration to one sock and not duplicating that on the second sock.

The first two at a time pattern I tried was this awesome pattern for boot socks. This pattern is great to try if you've never knitted two socks at a time on two circular needles before. The socks go fast since they're boot socks, and the pattern is very well written and easy to understand. The result is super warm, wonderful socks. Here are mine:

My feet are warm just thinking about them! After I made these, I taught myself Magic Loop and now almost exclusively knit socks two at a time on one long circular needle (Addi Turbos are my favorite). You can find a good tutorial for Magic Loop here, or here if you'd prefer a video!

Happy knitting!

Socks socks socks socks socks

By far my favorite thing to knit is socks. I was terrified of knitting socks for so long because everyone told me it was so difficult, but finally in the fateful fall of 2007 I decided I wouldn't let anyone scare me off anymore. I grabbed some Regia sock yarn I had bought on a whim, some size 2 dpns, and the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern by Kate Atherley. One messed up heel and a few weeks later, my first pair of socks were born into this world.

(Please ignore my ankle brace. I tripped and fell off some improbably tall shoes in Bend, Oregon and my ankle was swollen like a grapefruit for months. It's never been the same. Also, I don't remember having a Wii in 2007. What's the deal with that?)

It really wasn't so bad, and the addiction had begun. I decided size 2 needles were too big, and since have mostly knitted socks on size 0 or smaller.

My second pair of socks was made of Koigu yarn with size 1 dpns, following this Knitty pattern. Koigu, Imma stare at you all the time when I go to Weaving Works, and Imma let you finish, but you are the worst wearing sock yarn of all time. I wore them very few times, they were uncomfortable and quickly developed holes, the color faded to a pale imitation of the original, and they're sitting in the back of a box somewhere. Bleh.

See that ottoman? I used to have a loveseat, armchair, and ottoman all in that print. Free from craigslist. So hideuous and very dearly missed. I gave it to a friend when I moved and one or more of her eleven cats peed all over it. Nothing gets the stench of cat urine out!

Other notable socks I have made. I fell in love with the Falling in Love pattern from the now defunct MagKnits. Luckily I think you can still find the pattern on Ravelry. I knitted these super adorable socks when I moved from Seattle to Minneapolis and didn't drive for even a second.

Gradually I became familiar with the basics of sock construction, with a lot of help from the Yarn Harlot's book Knitting Rules! I highly recommend this book to intermediate knitters that are comfortable with patterns and want to hone their skills. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is always entertaining and informative. Once I figured out the different steps to sock construction I started to experiment with freestyling socks of my own. Some of my favorite socks have happened this way.

One highlight were these Manly 80's socks. I love Opal sock yarn very much.

Also freestyled were my Eccentric Socks, when I went on a bender trying to use up all my yarn scraps. These are a combination of Knitpicks Felici and Regia sock yarns that I had left over from two previous sock pairs. That reminds me that I don't have a pair of the Regia socks I knitted for a friend. I hate that. I must try to get a picture.

There's a lot more where that came from, but for now, that'll do, pig. That'll do.

Enjoy your weekends, everyone!

Lace Nightie

Hello! This will be the first post in my knitting blog. In an effort not to bore you with a lot of background right now, I will launch directly into the most recent project I have completed, my Lace Nightie.

The pattern, by Carrie Bostick Hoge, can be found here. I found it on one of my lengthy and meandering perusals of Ravelry, aka the biggest timesuck of all time for inter-knitters.

When I saw this pattern I instantly fell in love with it, but noticed that the projects in the gallery really didn't look like nighties at all. Following the pattern closely creates a lovely garment that's more like a camisole. I vowed to make mine long enough to cover my butt.

I received a big bunch of Classic Elite Premiere from my grandmother and have tried several projects with it, but they've all involved some element of disaster. The yarn is so lovely and soft, it's a double knit 8 ply yarn that is cotton/tencel. I typically don't like knitting with cotton but was determined to make something out of this.

At first I tried knitting the adorable Unmentionables from Knitty. I got gauge and went happily on my way, until I got to the part of the pattern where you were supposed to graft the crotch stitches together. I have a bad habit of knitting furiously and refusing to try on what I'm making until I've invested so much time into something it feels like it's part of me. Moral of the story: I should have tried them on sooner. When I did, they were GIANT. I could probably have fit two of me into them. This is a picture I took of them before I frogged the entire garment. It's hard to post this... makes me want to cry.

Hmph. I'll try to hold back the tears.

But I digress!

Ah, the Nightie. Once I went down to a size two needle, I got gauge. I cast on for the smallest size and got to about where the waist would be before I tried it on. Well, the border fit nicely around my hips, but it became apparent that other than that it resembled a (lovely and soft) orange potato sack. There's either not enough shaping in the pattern or this yarn is horribly saggy, or maybe a combination of both.

I ripped back to the border, figuring it might save a bit of my sanity to not start completely over. Once I started in on the main body I began the waist decreases as they are listed in the pattern, decreasing four stitches every other row.

At some point (I must remember to take better notes!) I switched to decreasing 4 stitches every fifth row. I stopped my decreases once there were only five stitches left between each fake side seam and the lace pattern. I tried it on several times during this process. Finally it looked good! The lace detail was pretty.

Once I got to the bust, I did one round where I increased 4 stitches to offset the drastic waist shaping. It's a bit of a blur how I did the bind offs. As you can see from my finished picture, the straps ended up being much farther apart then on the original pattern due to the size difference. However, I like it that way. I'd never done I-cord before and it was fun. Try it!

It didn't quite look finished so I did three rounds of crochet around the top. Finished! I will try to get some pictures soon of the rest of the nightie. It didn't turn out quite like I expected, but I adore it nonetheless.