Stripey noros - again!

Remember these? Yup, I've pulled out the stripey noro socks out of the pile of hibernating projects and decided its time to sort them out! If you remember, I had a few troubles with the variegated colours merging and then after fixing that, I knitted this knee-high and the increases were all wrong and the colour changing wraps were in the wrong place as well as hard and lumpy. So, it needed ripping back completely but after those trials and tribulations, I had a cooling off period and stuffed it away:-)

But now its back! I think I have cooled off enough now to rip this back with total indifference to the amount of toil and trouble that went into the first knitting of this:-) I had to get back into stripey noro headspace - good thing I keep a blog to remember what I should and shouldn't do again! So, yarn colourways were already sorted - check. Fix the changing of the colours and move to back of sock - check. Get a pattern to follow increases for knee-highs - check!! So, in theory I should be sorted and this should be a painless knit, but I don't want to tempt fate:-)

Knitting away, I have now cast on (judy's magic cast on), shaped the toe, knitted about 6.5" of sock foot so far with the colour changing at the back and there is no hard 'rib' feel to the change. I don't know why I thought I'd have to trap the yarn every row to carry it up the sock - overkill really - as all it did was make a hard ridge. This time all I did was pick up the thread after knitting four rows - no wraps, twists of any sort. Easy and no bumps.

I was also thinking of trying out a new method of short row heel - apparently I said so on my earier blog post. Unfortunately I can't remember just where that wonderful new technique is. Should have written it down on the blog, I know:-) So I'll just go back to my tried and tested method until it turns up again.

Or, I could look in my new sock book! I got this a wee while ago but forgot to blog about it. It gives you all the basic information you will need to knit a sock of any type; toe-up, top down, heel flaps, short row, knee highs. So this is the book I'm using as reference for the increases on those knee-highs. Maybe it will have a better version of the toe-up short row heel.

Well, that's my evening planned - a bit of light sock reading and turning a heel, while watching some good television, of course:-)

Knitting the sock blank

So my sock blank is dry and I have decided to unravel it into two matching balls before I start knitting. I made two large heaps of crinkly yarn and then wound them on the ball winder making sure I started with the same end:-) It would defeat the purpose if I got it wrong now! (although I have seen a deliberately opposite pair that worked very well too - just a thought for another time).

I know I could probably start knitting straight away but the yarn looks so crinkly. I read that it evens itself out once you block your sock but I think I prefer to wet it and stretch the kinks out first. I tensioned the skein when it was drying to get the yarn straight again. I think you can use steaming as well but I've never tried that.

So now I have two straightened balls of yarn ready to knit. Plain stocking stitch is a bit boring even with coloured stripes and I want to try something else than a rib pattern. So I'm going to incorporate the cabling that I used in firestarter - without the gusset detail. I know I've only knitted that style once but it makes the heel seem interminable! So I'm going to revert back to a short row heel for this one. I'll have to do a bit of manoeuvering with the cabling but I'm sure I'll find a solution:-)

So, the sock so far.... The cabling pattern is working well, good definition working with the colours and I like the way there is some of the subtle colour gradations within the greens and the purples as well as the blending into the next colour. The colours are making bigger bands than I expected but I can bear that in mind for the next one.

Next stop, the heel. Only a few more inches for me to think of a way to keep the cable pattern and have enough stitches to have a wide enough heel. Yes, I know! I really should have thought about that before I started but hey, I was being impulsive:-)

Dyeing sock blanks

Everywhere I go recently I've been hearing about sock blanks. 'What's a sock blank?' I thought. Is this something I should or want to know about? After a little bit of research, I've found out it's a long knitted length of sock yarn, knitted with two strands at once. This 'blank' is then hand painted/dyed in whatever pattern or colours you like and once you have fixed the dye and left it to dry, you can knit up two identical socks when you unravel the blank - clever, huh?

The intention is you can knit both socks at once if you want using this method but I've not tried that technique as yet so I can either knit one sock and wind the second thread into a ball as I go, or I could unravel the whole lot and wind into balls ready for my two identical socks.

So, I've got the gist of sock blanks. First thing to do is knit myself a blank. Out comes the knitting machine. The looser the knit, the easier it will be for the dye to get into all the stitches and not leave any white bits, so I selected every alternate needle on the loosest gauge and knitted two 50gm balls of sock yarn together for as long as it lasted. I cast off with a chain stitch so it will unravel easily after dyeing. I guessed as to the right proportions of height and width here - I'm not sure how this compares to shop bought ones. I could change the width to get different effects too but for now I'll stick with this size and see how I get on.

Understanding the theory and applying that knowledge are two different matters:-) What type of pattern will give what effect? I found a really helpful link at Knitpicks that gives you an understanding of how stripes, dashes and zigzags will look knitted up. Exactly what I needed. So on to the dyeing....

I used some already mixed colours - greens, aquas, blues and purples - and started with a basic stripe pattern. I tried to make it repeat the colour order but it doesn't really need to as it's more like a canvas. Both socks are being painted at once so you could paint a landscape - that would be interesting! - and they will still knit up the same.

Each colour band was broken up a bit more with some tonal variation. You don't need to load a brush with dye, it goes through the knitted fabric easily so no turning over and smudging your work of art! And you can get some fine detail in there.

Then wrapping up in cling film, just like a painted skein and blasted in the microwave (or steamed if you prefer) until the colour is fixed. I gave this about 15 mins just to be sure as it was more of an unknown quantity. A little colour came out in the first rinse but not much more than that. So good result.

Dried, it looks a little paler in colour but has still retained some of the finer painted detail. If anything, the purple has receded and the greens now dominate. I think both the aqua and the purple dyes must have been a weaker solution. I also got a few little blobs from either some sediment or dye on the edge of the cling film. This hasn't happened before so I'll have to remember to wipe the excess dye off the edges before wrapping and mix fresh dyes each time from now on.

But all the same, I do like my little experiment. Now, the exciting bit - what will it look like knitted up? Tune in tomorrow:-)

Poseidon and Firestarter

Got a killer of a headache today so not much knitting is being done that requires any concentration - or maths! But I can show you the progress I've made knitting my new sock yarn as well as my newly dyed fleece and yarn from yesterday's dyeing sesssion. The fleece hasn't taken the dye as intensely as I would have liked but I'll try a different way of dyeing next time to see if I can do better. If anyone knows a surefire way of getting rich colours, I'd be pleased to hear:-)

I dyed two more skeins of sock yarn, aiming for more semi-solids than stripes this time as I started knitting the emerald green yarn but it is too stripey for more detailed patterns and just fights it as you can see.

The stripes on their own are very nice but the lace is just lost. This sock pattern is called 'poseidon' and I even watched the new version of the poseidon adventure while knitting it. Ah, well, all ripped back now.

So this aquamarine semi-solid is made especially to handle lace or cabling patterns on socks. I was aiming for these greeny/blue midtones but I think it would be really nice in deeper more peacock or petroly blues as well - yum. Note to self:-)

This one is called pink orchid, lots of subtle tones of pinky reds and plummy purples. Hopefully this will be subtle enough not to be too stripey! No plans for this yarn as yet but I have just got Cookie A's sock book at the weekend so it may be destined for a complex pair of cookie socks:-) Here's a good review if you are thinking about buying it. I was recommended it - which is the best review of all!

The orange mango stripey yarn is also being knitted up as we speak - well, when the headache decides to shift:-) On the sock needles at the mo is Firestarter designed by Yarnissima. It uses a self striping or plain yarn and adds cable detailing up the sides of the sock - lovely. It remains to be seen whether my yarn is bordering on too stripey!!

I've just started the side cabling but there isn't much to see as yet. It may well have to be ripped back but I'll knit a little more first before I decide. Still loving the stripes though:-)

All we need now are some sunny days without rain so I can sit outside and get in some quality knitting time! Enough rain already!

Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball!

Oh. My. God! How yummy is this? It's by Schoppel-Wolle and these graded colour balls are the new Zauberball sock yarn. Look at the richness, the intensity of the colours! Heaven would be a Schoppel-Wolle shop with a nice, comfy knitting chair and an endless supply of free yarn:-)

This one is called tropical fish. I love the way the colours are so bright - they really are that bright - and it is so soft to the touch. It makes me realise that the noro I'm working with right now doesn't feel quite so nice. I feel like I've slipped back into the 80's with a rainbow colour palette and I'm loving it! Nothing subtle about this yarn!

This one is called Fuchsia. As you know a lot of my projects have fushia, or fuchsia if I spell it correctly, in the title so this will be quite at home. I'm thinking stripey socks, or stripey cardi? It may be a bit luminous to wear as a top - even for me! I think I will just live with them for a while till I can think of the best use for them. No rush except my impatience to see how they knit up!

But the range isn't all bright and in-your-face colourways. I also love the more subtle Almond pictured here. The more subtle tones are just heavenly. So rich and close in tone, you know they will just drift into each other as you knit and it will be gorgeous without trying. Can you tell I'm smitten?! And there are 9 colourways in all with more subtle tones like cranberry, denim and blackberries. There's a green one I like too - very jade - but I haven't found it in a UK shop yet.

At £9 a ball, it's an expensive 'smitten' so I will have to save up my pennies or learn to dye my own! I got my zauberball at modern knitting - it's a very user friendly site and so easy to navigate around. And talk about quick delivery! I only ordered them yesterday at lunchtime and they were here this morning!! Well impressive!

I also decided to try out some Addi circulars. I've been using my knitpicks 40cm circulars for my socks but they seem a little small in length so I thought I would try the 60cm length, and also see what the fuss is about Addi's. But silly me will have to wait as I forgot to order two! So lets hope that modern knitting will be as quick on the postage tomorrow;-)

Talking about socks.......

I've got this far with my noro sock. I was following a knee high pattern for the increases but today when I tried it on, it doesn't seem to be the best fit. The problem with changing the increases is that they start about 4-5" above the heel. That's a lot of ripping back. Will this sock ever be knitted?!!! Do I care any more? ;-))) Well, yes, but it's turning into more of a fiasco tester for new techniques!

If I rip back that far, then I should really test out that new heel so I don't have quite so obvious a ridge on the short row wrap and turns. And if I'm going to rip back to the heel, I really should do something about the line that is forming down the side where the colours switch. It's creating an obvious bump and I now realise from looking at a few knee-high patterns that it should be down the back of the leg - like a seamed stocking - rather than where it is naturally forming at the side. And possibly using a slip stitch.....

But I could be here forever on this sock so I'm thinking change the increases and fix all the rest on another pair. But will I be happy giving these as a present or wearing them myself, knowing I could have fixed them to make them a much better sock? Oh, perfectionist gene you are a pain!

Thank goodness, I have more sock needles on the way:-) The Zauberball is waiting to be knitted and I don't think I'll be waiting for the noro socks to be finished!

Works in progress....

Well, here we are! Progress on the forest canopy shawl! I have left this so long, I'd pretty much forgotten the lace pattern repeats but it's very simple and didn't take long to get back into the swing of things. I even managed to watch some tv and not make too many mistakes:-) Now that is progress!

I've got to the end of the repeats now and I should be starting the edging border but I still have a bit more yarn than I'll need overall. I'm thinking I'll be able to add at least 2-4 extra repeats to make this a bit bigger - obviously remembering that the rows get bigger every time I increase and that will eat up more yarn!

I've also been working on and off on the stripey noro socks. This is attempt no 2 using two different colour schemes and it was going very well until after the short row heel. Then the colours started to go funny. That damn green/black bit again. But worse, it hits the equivalent yucky bit in the other ball. So altogether it's a bit bleh! Not wanting to be too hasty, I've lived with this for a week or so to see if I had a brainwave - or should I say miracle - before ripping it all back. While this was sitting cogitating its yukkiness, I decided to start another stripey sock.

Stripey sock no 3. After a while of mulling the problems of clashing stripes and colour schemes, I had a bit of a brainwave - just as I was drifting off to sleep. Of course, I wanted to get up and try my idea out straight away but I managed to restrain myself till the morning:-)

So, my brainwave was this. Instead of taking the original ball and splitting it into two which gave the green/black clash, instead of making them both go in the same direction - the very short lived yukky green and red toe - I decided to avoid all these problems and quarter the balls. I also did a bit of colour editing so I could start on a nice colour with both balls:-) If in doubt, take a chunk out!!!

So these are my half-knitted quarter balls, running very nicely thank you. I may not have quite an even length - due to my editing - but I should get a mid to knee length pair of socks out of just the original 100gm ball. To be honest, if I had thought about editing the yarn, I should have just taken out one of the green/black bits when knitting the original sock and saved myself all the hassle of ripping it all back and doing mental gymnastics with colour stripes.

But I was so into seeing how the yarn would knit up in its original state this never actually occurred to me, I must admit. Also, as Noro is expensive, it never occurred to me to be so, well, cavelier with it! In reality, noro sock yarn is rougher to the touch than most sock yarns, spun very thin in places and seems to have one yukky colour gradation, well to me anyway:-) But the bright, yumminess of the colours generally makes up for a lot!

So, now sock no 2 is no more, ripped back into a lovely roll of colour to become the matching second sock for stripey no 3. I had actually come to hate that icky top bit so I took great pleasure in ripping it back this morning:-) So, hopefully, this means I can get these stripey WIP's finished and off the needles.

Saying that, I've just found a new way to turn heels that looks better than the method I have been using. It is tempting to rip back just a little to try out the smoother join, don't you think?

The sock that never was......

Once upon a time, as all good stories start, there was a lovely ball of Noro 92 Kureyon sock yarn wanting to be knitted into wonderful stripey socks. The bright rainbow colours promised a stunning and enjoyable knit. So off we went, knit, knit, knit. Toe done. Knit a bit more and the yarn starts to show how lovely these stripes will be.......

For the first time knitting with noro it's looking good. The colours are strong and are contrasting well as we go. Yum, yum, yum. Worth a close-up look:-)

On we go to the short row heel. Now this should be interesting - short rows and making sure the stripes meet up on the way back and when I rejoin the sock. Thought this would be tricky but it's deceptively easy. I shouldn't tell you that so you can be stunned at my prowess!!! I am mighty proud of my first efforts!

And a close-up of the heel stripes so I can remember how I did it the next time:-)))) I love the little green oval at the bottom! I'm liking these socks!

So on we go, knitting up to the top - the home run.....

Oh dear! I start to run into stripe problems - you knew it was too good to be true, didn't you? It's not so easy to see at the top of the full sock, so have a look at just the top closer up.

To explain my sock predicament. To get two socks out of one ball, you use the inside end and the outside end and alternate the colours every four rows. But if you use this method, the colours run the opposite way from each other. Okay, you say so why is this a problem? Because no matter where I start in the ball, one colour will always meet the same colour coming the other way.

In this case, the green. After the heel, the black is drifting into green but the green is now drifting into black and there is a section at the top of this photo where all stripe definition disappears completely. After such a punchy sock this won't do! So what can I do?

Apparently the answer is to have the colour sequences running in the same direction. I do wish I'd known that before I started and knitted such a perfect heel! So to resolve this problem there is only one solution - rip it all back and start again. I paused first and lived with the sock for a day or so before doing this as maybe I would decide I could live with it, but no. This is a present and I do want to get it as good as I can, so rip, rip, rip. I rewound the yarn back into two balls, both going the same way, ready to begin again.

But another problem lurks now. Both balls start at blue - no contrast! So I wind off a chunk and move the sequence on two colours - the only option that will leave enough for a full pair of socks. And then I can start again.

Sorry for the poor photo. I just snapped this quickly in artificial light before ripping it out in disgust. The red which looked so lovely contrasted with the blue now looks vile next to the green. The photo doesn't do the grossness of the clashing colours justice - thank goodness! So what was a lovely sock experience is deteriorating into a fiasco. There is no other way of winding the yarn without taking off too much to get a better combination and its just NOT NICE. I won't knit that. Nope, No way.

So what is a girl to DO? Buy more yarn!!:-)

If I can't get one ball to give me a stripey effect, then some people have used two contrasting colourways to great effect. And you can get 4 socks out of it! The problem buying yarn online is you really can't gauge whether it will work with the colour scheme you have. So I bought two just in case. The top purple one is prime candidate to work well with the blues and greens. And the pink I thought would be lovely with the lime colourway - knee highs? Magenta and Lime. Yum.

So, the ending of this tale is our little sock is now no longer with us but it is happy being reincarnated alongside some purple noro to be the little sock that could!