Swagger Socks

My Christmas knitting has started! I'm knitting my older brother's family socks for Christmas. ..... all 7 of them. These are some BIG socks! lol Lebron James (size 15 shoe) could wear these socks.



FO: Nephew #1 Socks
pattern: Thuja Socks from knitty.com by Bobby Ziegler
yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids in Navy (get use to seeing this yarn I have 3 more pairs to make with it)
size: US mens 14 wide
needles: US 1 Addi turbo 2 24'' circs
modifications: fingering weight yarn
start: August 8, 2008 Olympics opening Ceremonies
finish: August 22, 2008 at 610pm CST 2 days left of the Olympics

Fall into AutumnTopic #6...... Apples and Horses

Now that it is getting cooler here, it makes me think of apple picking and hay rides. Are you the type that likes to go to participate in all the fall festivities like apple picking, pumpkins, decorating for the fall, hay rides, baking fall goodies, etc. or do you just sit and count the days till Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah?

Apple Picking:
Didn't the Unabomber say the happiest times in his life was going apple picking? lol *
Well this is the closest I'll ever come to picking apples...



It's the Apple Harvest Socks from Northern Sunshine Designs. I'm using the incredibly soft White Willow's superwash sock yarn in the Prarie Grass colorway. It's part of her Native American sock yarn series. I used the Medicine Woman colorway to make the Twist&/Shout socks. My gauge is 9spi. I've modified the pattern because of the gauge and I casted on 72 stitches instead of 60.

Hay rides:
I'm from cattle country, and I've never gone on a hay ride. I've ridden horses(on Mustang Island) before but it's not exclusively a Fall activity. On Mustang Island near Corpus Christi, you can go horseback riding on the beach. Most of the horses they have at the stables are gentle, docile mares. Speaking of mares and horses.... guess what I finished!



Yeah, that's right the Thuja socks in the Thoroughbred colorway for size 13 wide feet. I hope my brother likes them.

Now that I told you about my next sock project and my FO, I'm actually going to answer the topic question..... I like baking in the Fall apple pies, cakes, sweets, etc. I love how when a pie is baking in the oven the house is filled with the scent of cinnamon. I thinking of baking a peach cobbler this year. I've never attempted to do one. Peach cobbler was one of my grandmother's best recipes. I know I won't be able to do it like hers but I'm going to try.



*Note: I'm not saying people who pick apples are crazy. I was just making a joke. When I saw apple picking that was the first thought that came to me. I can remember back in 1996 listening to a radio program and the hosts were talking about the Unabomber. The FBI interviewed Kaczynski and he told them that apple picking with some woman was the happiest time in his life.

Fall into Autumn Topic# 5.... A peek inside my knitting bag and A quick Thuja Sock update

I don't think the contest is still going on but here's a picture of me knitting. I took a video of me knitting on my digital camera but I don't know how to upload and post it on my blog. Plus it's been a busy week for me so I'm not willing to take the time to learn how to do it. <---- lazy
Flash your needles and other items you use to make your wares. Dpns, circs, straights, hooks,tape measures, darning needles, favorite stitch markers, needle holders, cases, the works!

Here's a peek into my knitting bag:



I've had this messenger bag for a year. I bought it online from Target. It has served me well, but it's time for me to get a new bag. I was awake at 3:00 in the morning watching HSN. I've had good restraint in the past when I'm watched HSN. I usually ask myself do I really need whatever the item is that I'm looking and wanting to buy. In this case my answer was yes. My knitting messenger bag doesn't close anymore. The weekend tote will be here around October 19th.

weekend tote from HSN

The tote bag matches my notions carrying case. It's canvas pencil pouch with a mesh pocket.

I keep inside of it: darning needles, measuring tape, paperclips (I use them as stitchmarkers), Knitchek for measuring gauge, US 1, 3 and 7 crochet hooks for fixing knitting mistakes, scissors, calculator, yellow highlighter, pencil and lip balm.

I keep a ruler in my knitting bag because Ann Budd says that a measuring tape can stretch out and you won't get accurate measurements.



I got my magnetic darning needle holder as a free gift from a UK knitting magazine, ?Simply Knitting?. Has anyone had their Addi Turbos discolor/tarnish a little? The ones I use the most, the US 1s and Us7s both have a little discoloration/tarnish on them. I bought them from YarnMarket.com so I know that there real Addis......

My on the go knitting reference book is Margaret Radcliffe's The Knitting Answer Book. Great book and the lady is a very nice person. Last year I had a question about tension and elongated stitches. I called her in ?Maryland? on a Monday. She was running an errand and her husband said she would call me back. Well, she called me back and explained to me what I was doing wrong. Awesome, she's just awesome. (I think she is a master knitter and deserves a knitting black belt.)



I also keep a journal/notebook in my bag too. I use it to write notes to myself.



Last weekend, I finished reading The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. It's the first in the Jane Rizzoli series. It was a good suspense book. I liked how the book accurately depicted trauma situations and what blood products a doctor would order in those situations.... ie someone blooding out would require packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma and platelets. <--- It made the nerdy medical lab tech in me happy. The little biography of the author in the back of the book says that she used to be doctor on internal medicine. She knows what she's talking about. Thuja Progress:

I'm now knitting the heel flap of the 2nd sock. Hopefully, I'll be finished with this sock next week.

Thuja Socks for my bubba

I'm making the Thuja socks for my older brother. His birthday was last month. I casted on for these socks September 20th, a few days after his birthday. This post is for my brother so he can see the progress I'm making on his socks. :-)



Cuff:
I initially casted on 104 stitches based on my 9 spi gauge and his foot circumference estimated as being 11 1/4 inches. I had trouble with ladders and it seemed like there was way tooooo many stitches. (I think my ladder problems stemmed from the fact that I was sleep deprived because I've never had a problem with ladders on 2 circs or magic loop.) I recasted on with 96 stitches and instead of the k1p1 ribbing that the cuff is supposed to be, I did a k2p2 ribbing.



Leg:
I wanted to use a pattern that fairly easy since I would be knitting a big sock. The leg is knitted using seed stitch ribbing. It's a 2 row pattern. A repeating purl stitch in the second row is the only the difference this and stockinette.



Heel Flap and Turning the Heel:
I started the heel with on the wrong side instead of the right side. I did that because I moved the last stitch on needle 2 to needle 1 and moved a stitch from needle 1 to needle 2. I used Schurch's tip, picking up 2 extra stitches at the top of the gusset, to keep holes from forming at the top of the gusset.



Foot and Toe Shaping:
I made the foot 9 3/8 inches long. I used standard toe shaping. I was going to use a round toe shaping since 96 is a multiple of 8 and I had never done it before.... but I decided against it. I think the reason I had 2nd sock syndrome with the Twist & Shout socks was because I was trying to do too many new things.


I immediately casted on and knit the cuff of the 2nd sock. I going to have to stop knitting the sock for a couple of days because I need to finish My So Called Scarf and I'm working.


BTW.... Check out the details for the Winter Wonderland Coffee Swap! YARN and COFFEE...my favorite legal addictive stimulants.... I'm going to sign up! Registration begins October 24th!

FO: Twist & Shout Socks.....also what socks are next up

Finally, I'm done with them. It was a long 2 months of knitting. What I've learned from knitting the Twist & Shout Socks:

1. I don't like short row heels. I can do them, but I just don't like them. It's going to effect me trying to knit toe up socks. I've decided to push back learning to knit toe up socks until 2008.

2. I cannot multitask and knit lace socks. I'm going to mess up. I'd like to try knitting lace socks again...maybe something by Cookie A or out of Sensational Knitted Socks



The next pair of socks I'm knitting are for my brother's size 13 feet. I'm going to knit the Thuja Socks from knitty.com using Fearless Fiber's Superwash merino sock yarn in the Thoroughbred colorway. I'm using US 1 Addi Turbo needles on 2 circs. The modifications to the pattern so far are the fingering sock yarn, US 1 needles, and casting on 104 stitches....I'm gonna be busy.



Look what came in the mail..... It's Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters in Ruby River colorway. I'm going to use it to knit a shawl. More on that later after I finish the Branching Out Lace Scarf.