FO: Fell Walkers

It's been a while since I've posted a crafty project.  It's summer (still?), I just don't feel like it.  

I did finish a pair of socks that I started on the trail though.

I went for a stash-dive and picked out a nice ball of Opal Shafpate and cast on for the Reverso socks from the most recent Knitty.

I cast on during the train ride to Carlisle and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were fell-colored!  What a serendipitous choice for a hiking take-along.   

Not my hairy arm, btw.... 

Or my hairy legs....

I am usually hesitant to try out new techniques when it comes to sock construction.  I'm a bit lazy that way.  I don't like to think too hard when I'm making a pair of socks, as I knit them on the go and dislike fiddly things.  These were worth it though, and an idea that I had been contemplating for a while: how to make a pair of socks that can be worn with the smooth knit-side fabric on the soles without having to do a ridiculous amount of purling.  

Easy: make them inside out!

You start at the cuff in mistake rib pattern.  Instead of gusset increases, you do Cat Borhdi's ceder construction, which puts the increases at the heel instead.  Once you start the heel turn, you flip the socks inside out, and continue in the mistake rib.

So now you have a pair of socks that there is no right or wrong side out!

The only awkward moment was grafting the toe and weaving the ends in, as I tried my best to hide it.  They are cozy, warm stretchy socks that would easily fit a variety of foot sizes, so great for gifting.  They also didn't take too long at all as far as socks go.

The yarn is 75% superwash, 25% nylon, so they should wear well for years.  If not, it's going to be a mess for me to try and patch these up, as I generally count on the repair work to not be seen on the inside.

Now I'm somewhat obsessed with self-striping sock yarn.  For years, I favored intricate cable and lace patterns on my sock, which pairs well with the hand-painted variegated yarn I love so much.  Intricate patterns tend to get lost when you have yarn that stripes heavily, so doing plain socks or some texture works better.

I love them so much, I cast on another pair of stripe socks as soon as I was done.  The bug has bitten once again.  

FO: Cable rib socks

Just a quickie, as I've been out on an adventure and I have been trying to organize my thoughts and photos on it, and my laptop has come to a grinding halt.  I'm in the process of backing everything up so I can wipe my hard drive clean and start anew, as that is the only thing I can think of that will get this up to speed.  

I finished a pair of socks- the Cable Rib Socks from the Interweave Favorite Socks book.  

So the yarn...is ugly.  I've overdyed these since I took the pictures (and blocked them, so they look a bit neater) but ugh.  The yarn is Austerman Step in "grass", and it looked just peachy on the shelf, but when I started knitting I realized pretty quickly that it just wasn't working.  I loved the greens, but the reds and pinks made me feel fairly nauseated.  I kept going though, and then threw them in a pot with some food color, which made the reds pop less and the dulled down the pink and white stripes.

Still, they are socks, and they are a gift of the practical nature.  The yarn seems sturdy enough, and they are machine washable.

Also, I realized something amazing and unrelated to socks this week.  If I want to lose weight and get more exercise, it's best to start a pot of homemade stock on the stove.  Then, go out to dinner in Brixton, and when you are almost done your Pad krao, remember you left the stove on.  This causes a surge of adrenaline the likes of which I rarely experience, and I sprinted back home in my heavy rain boots and layers of rain gear, peering ahead hoping not to see firetrucks the entire time.  Well, I ended up not being in the awkward situation of explaining to my landlord exactly why I burned the flat down, and I came home to a happily simmering pot of stock and the apartment smelling quite homey and good, and collapsed in a heap after breaking the 7-minute mile barrier that I had been aiming for years now.  In rain boots.  In my head, I knew it was going to be fine- I usually leave stock on the stove for three or four hours at a time with barely a glance into the kitchen.  Just being out of the house and knowing the stove was left on made my head leap to automatic worse-case scenario.  In all my life, I have never ever forgotten the stove being on.    

Lesson learned.  Leave the stove on if you want to be in great shape and run like the wind.

FO: Brattleboro Hat

Oh, it's time for the return of the masses of Paris! I've grown fond of having the city practically to myself in the cold dark winter, but, alas, it is not meant to be. The soundtrack of my life now consists of the daily parades of people awkwardly banging along with their wheely-suitcases dragging along the cobblestones. Alas, I live in a good Paris neighborhood with nary a tourist attraction within a kilometer, so it's only when I veture out of the neighborhood that I realize what a crazy lovely place Paris is to visit. And everyone does.

I can't hide, so I join them. A very chill Saturday, picnicking on the Trocadero. People watching and watching the tchotchke vendors occasionally getting chased across the plaza from a rather elderly cop that had no chance at all of catching them.

I also had a total freakout meltdown at how flithy my camera was. It wasn't the lens, but one of the internal mirrors somehow got coated in dust, but I didn't notice until I got home and loaded the pictures up. I suffer no more as I found a nice camera shop that humored my french and cleaned her up like new.

Yet another quick like a bunny, easy as pie hat.

This one is from the book, "New England Knits", which has a pretty good assortment of warm woolies that are slightly more fabulous than anything you could possibly purchase at LL Bean. Since it seems to be still winter-like almost everywhere that I have friends, I'm sure it will get some use.

The hat is made by starting a rib band until it fits around your head, then picking up stitches along the top and working in moss stitch before decreasing for the crown. The pattern calls for working buttons, but I couldn't be bothered and just sewed them into place.

Easy, cute, warm. Another good gift to send off. I love making hats for gifts because I can throw them in an envelope and ship them flat, which cost about half the price with international shipping being what it is.