Three Scarves in June.

today it's hotter than hot and the humidity is just stupid. naturally i'm doing what i usually do this time of year--knitting a scarf. three scarves, actually, but who's counting? two of the three have been languishing in the progress basket for a couple of months now, so believe me when i say they've been enjoying the attention. they're in serious danger of being completed!

anyway, pictures and documentation are long overdue. here it go:


first, the Campus Scarf from Scarf Style. i just finished the first repeat today (they are incredibly long.) i'm sewing the ends in as i go along because i really don't want to go insane when finally faced with six-odd feet of scarf times four ends per colour bar. this is officially my new go-to mindless-knitting project (this is the only way it's ever going to get finished.)


next, the Rosebud Mesh scarf. i've been threatening to post this one for quite a while, if my sidebar is to be believed. i was craving lace and itching to see how my Fleece Artist handspun laceweight would knit up, and this is the result. it's a mere handful of repeats so far but the random spinning and plying techniques i used are showing off the colours nicely. i'm going to try to pick this one up when i put the Campus Scarf down.


finally, Ruffles (also from Scarf Style) looking more like a nautilus than a scarf. when it's hanging down it looks like a giant piece of rotini. i'm knitting this critter LONG so i can wrap again and again around my neck til it piles up like a ruff. again, this is mindless knitting--the repeats are fast and easily memorized--which also makes it easy to put down. i find that i'm having to sit myself down for half-hours at a time in order to make any progress on this one.

so that's what's on my plate for the next little while, which is just as well, really. i'm already planning my Xmas knitting, about a month earlier than usual this year. i think this stupid heat is going to my head.

Naïve socks (This Must Be The Socks,) FO.

Yarn: handpainted, self-striping Deegu, produced by Adriana
Needles: Clover Takumi Bamboo dpns, US 2
Pattern: Naïve socks (This Must Be The Socks) by me, SpillyJane
Started: 4 June 2007
Finished: 22 June 2007

Notes: this was my first attempt at designing my own socks, which, while not that trying was a learning experience in itself. the first thing i learned from knitting two pairs of cabled socks all in a row is that cables wear out their welcome fairly fast. also, one will note that i (typically) took the "no mercy" approach and set the cabling bar at a fairly lofty height. now that i don't have to deal with those teeny tiny turned-more-often-than-i-care-to-relate cablets, i can sit back and appreciate them. earlier this week that wasn't so easy. (in their defense, though, those little guys were a handy way to keep track of rows--kinda like a built-in counter.) something tells me that these wee cablets aren't done haunting me yet.

shortly after finishing the first sock i began to panic a little, thinking, "okay, i've managed to muddle through one, now how am i going to be able to bang out a mirror image for sock no. 2?" i had been keeping insanely detailed notes (numbers, musings, concerns,) throughout the entire process, but it wasn't until sock no. 2 really started to come together that i was truly put at ease. it turns out that i can be incredibly logical number-wise when it comes to growing cables on a sock. thankfully. i don't even want to think what would've happened had no. 2 gone badly (actually, i do know what would've happened--i would've ripped and counted and studied sock no. 1 until i figured out what the CRAP had gone wrong and then i would've fixed it.)

using a self-striping handpaint for a intricate cabled sock was mainly because i was feeling dangerous, "the stripes seem to be wide enough, but if they're not, who cares?! let's see what happens if i do this..." i love the stripes, but i can't help but wonder what these would look like in a solid-coloured yarn. maybe i'll give that a shot...later. yes--MUCH later--i'm off cables for a good month or two at LEAST.

so there are the socks...and they are very truly naïve. i had no idea what they would look like finished, or even if the cables were going to twist or untwist at any given point. they just kind of...happened. i even stuck a "mistake" in, if you can even call it that if it's purposefully placed there on each sock--the central cable twists in the opposite direction only once about halfway down the leg. also, from what i understand, while she was creating the yarn Adriana tried her hand at over-dyeing the purple portions which resulted in a lovely variegated effect. all in all, these socks are a result of many a happy accident.

Fun Fact: these are my own socks. not "my own socks" like all the other socks i've knit are my own socks--these are different. while cables themselves are common and malleable enough, they've never been put together on a sock like this. i've created a new pattern that hadn't existed before and it's a really good feeling.

sharing something that i've made is an even better feeling! watch for this pattern to become available (in some capacity or other) here, soon!

Home is where I want to be.

here's the first Naive Sock:


this means that it's time to start the second one. i am not at all keen on starting the second one (three crash-course cabled socks in a row will do that to you,) but i am going to force myself to cast on and at the very least get past the ribbing and grow some cables out of some other cables before i forget how i did it. i have notes--very, very detailed notes--but this might not be a bad idea.

it turns out that cabled socky things have a polar opposite, which would be lacy mohair things. the more observant of my readers will say "good, go work on Birch, as it's been sitting in the bin, untouched and unloved for a couple of months already," and they will have a very sensible, valid point. no one, however, has ever accused me of being very sensible--sitting down with my copy of Wrap Style last night brought both Enchanté and Guinevere to my attention. look out!

Sock progress and brain thinkings.

the Naive sock continues to grow...shortly i'll be off to turn the heel (another Welsh heel, since those are my current favourites.) with any luck i'll be polishing this one off in a couple of days!

i'm seriously considering writing an actual pattern out for this sock and making it available for free (in some capacity or other) online. regardless, i've been making detailed notes of the pattern and process as i've been knitting. would there be any interest in a sock pattern like this? we'll see what happens.

Make it up as we go along.

i had every intention of making the Tipsy Knitter socks, but somehow this happened:


these are the This Must Be The Socks (Naive Knitting) socks, the name of which is destined to be shortened to "Naive" or the much more annoying T.M.B.T.S. socks (in this case i'm going with the former.) what we have here is several inches of totally improvised, patternless, off-the-top-of-my-head, make it up as i go along (just like the song says) cabled sock. cables flow into other cables and twist in varying directions, all in a seemingly too-busy, striped yarn.

this yarn is handpainted Deegu gifted to me by Adriana, and yes i knew it would stripe beforehand, but still continued to knit an intricately cabled sock. though the pattern might seem to clash with the yarn, i really enjoy how to sock doesn't give up its secrets at first glance. one has to come closer to take it all in and the effect is not unlike a well-placed piece of garden statuary--hidden, mysterious and nearly serendiptious. serendipity, of course, being key here.

Rib and Cable Socks, FO.

Yarn: KnitPicks Gloss in Woodland Sage
Needles: Clover Takumi Bamboo dpns, US 2
Pattern: Rib and Cable Socks by Nancy Bush (Interweave Knits Fall 2005)
Started: 25 May 2007
Finished: 01 June 2007

Notes: these socks were my first serious attempt at cables, and i have to say i've been converted. cables are the cure for the plain vanilla sock! once i got going i was even able to read while i was working them. i have no idea why i'd not tried my hand at them sooner, but i'll be on the lookout for more patterns featuring cabling now. i may even have to knit this pattern again!

Fun Fact: these socks followed me everywhere this past week and along the way they gathered many fans. it seems everyone loves cables!