charlij

Follow-up to My First Sock that Will Not be Frogged.

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:10:40 GMT

Can you believe that a yarn shop employee frogged part of My First Sock that Will Not Be Frogged!!

I can't write any more about it because it makes me too mad!

Whine of the century

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:58:25 GMT

I want to live near WEBS!

How oh how am I supposed to choose colors online????

It's such a crap shoot! And, that's right, I do not know how to play craps. Only how to live it.

My-irst-sock-that-will-not-be-frogged!!!

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:35:51 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I am so happy to have found this community through Ravelry. Unfortunately, due to some faulty synapse crossings I have a different name there. I'm hoping I can fix this at some point.

Anyhow, I am now finally knitting my first sock that will not be frogged!! And I'm amazed at how happy this makes me. Even though I can come up with lots of reasons for this to make me happy:
(a) I'm quite ill, so I there are very few things I can acutally do, especially tangible things;
Ummm.. I think that's it.

Also, I want to be able to give socks as gifts. Especially to show my appreciation to all the people who have been so kind to me since my illness.

So, I am lovin' My-First-Sock-That-Will-Not-Be-Frogged!!!

Instead of detailing the grisely details before getting to My-First-Sock-That-Will-Not-Be-Frogged!!! I'll just tell you what I think helped/worked for me.

1. The Sensational Knitted Socks book by Schurch is not great for the Beginner with a capital B.

2. Find a pattern that works with your gauge and size. This is not the time to be fiddling around. I think that's what was screwing me up in the past. Although, I did alter this sock to accomodate a narrow heel, per Schurch's instructions. I've just tried on way too many shoes that were lovely but unwearable for me because of that damn narrow heel (in comparison to my wide-ish flat-footed feet), not to make this adjustment.

3. I haven't looked at it yet, but I bet the new beginner sock book by Ann Budd or is it Nancy Bush? would be great. I think this because I've looked at their patterns to help me figure out what the heck Schurch wanted me to do. And I bet Bordhi's new Sockitecture book would be great too since she is such a fabulous teacher and a genuis when it comes to knitting. [I saw her on Knitty Gritty and I watched part of a video tutorial she has on the web. I love this woman! I want to be her, or at least be her friend, or even better her neighbor. Have you seen those pics of where she lives???

So far, (by so far I mean, 3/4 of the way through My-First-Sock-That-Will-Not-Be-Frogged), I think I like ribbing patterns in socks.

I'm using Regia wool and cotton. My first try was Wendy's generic toe up pattern, which is free on the web. It took a bit of getting used to before I could do the provisional cast-on, and a little more time until I understood the short row concept (again, slightly different wording would have helped this addled brain), however, I didn't like the socks. The first time the bind off was way too tight. So I frogged it all. Yes, I am DUMB! The second sock I made the leg wider and used a picot bind-off. Too wide. But I kept the sock until yesterday, when I realized that soon I would need that yarn the 2nd sock was using.

I thought perhaps it was the yarn I didn't like. Too boring. Not expensive, relatively speaking.
And then I read something on the web, wherein someone said she didn't really consider herself a sock knitter because she hadn't turned a heel or done kitchner bind off.

Hmmm.... this hadn't occurred to me, although I was in that very same boat since Wendy's pattern is a toe up sock that uses a short row toe and a short row heel. Hmmmm....

So I broke into some beautiful Shepard Sock yarn in Water color. Yarn I had origianlly bought to make my first lace shawl, but this is absolutely the wrong yarn to use for that.

I didn't use one specific pattern this time. Instead I cobbled together instructions from a few places. To quote the yarn harlot, who is a sock goddess among other things, it looked like arse. And then I tried to fix it up a bit, which resulted in making it worse.

I showed it to my friend J. The sock was too big for me, so I thought it might fit her. It did and being the fabulous friend that she is, she said she would wear it. Around the house. Even though, once again I'd made the leg way too big, which meant it was saggy in addition to it's aesthetic problems.

Once I was well underway with My-First-Sock-That-Will-Not-Be-Frogged!!! [the explanation points are part of it's name], I frogged the Shepard Sock yarn thing.

So, now I knew it wasn't the yarn being bad. it had been me. And I decided until I got better, I would use the cheapest yarn I had for socks.

So, back to Regia. Which is good yarn that I'd gotten on sale. This time I decided to follow Schurch's pattern for a 4 st. patterned sock. I don't think Schurch's book is great for the Beginner with a capital B, but between her and Interweave's Favorite Socks book, I muddled through it.

How it happened:

1. Although the leg seemed too small for me I just kept going. Ravelry people had mentioned that Scurch neglected to discuss negative ease and that that was important, so I figured I'd keep going and if my legs were still to big at the end, I'd give it to someone with smaller legs.

2. I frogged the heel 3 times because the instructions were not clear to me. And then I tried it on some more and the leg wasn't so tight afterall. However, I now wish it had been longer.

3. Oh, yes, this is the second sock I've tried to make using Schurch's book. The first one I was fiddling with the numbers. This time I followed instructions that fit my numbers (i.e., I didn't worry so much about the sock not fitting as I did about the sock coming out like arse).

4. I've had to frog back to the pick up for the gussett 3 times because I hadn't understood what the instructions wanted me to do. Once again, the Favorite Socks book really helped.

5. I'm using a simple but very nice stitch comprised of 2 rounds: round 1: k2, p2; round 2: k. It makes a very nice sock. Or, more precisely it makes My-First-Sock-That-Will-Not-Be-Frogged!!!

TOTAL NEWBIE (newer than that even)

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:33:18 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I'm not sure if this is the "best" community for this question, but here I am.

I have always loved quilts and I'd like to learn how to make one.

Can anyone suggest books or websites for the absolute beginner. I don't even plan to use a sewing machine for a while (if ever). I'm not a sewer, so I really need things thoroughly explained.

TIA!

Charli

Stash

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:24:12 GMT

OMG! I have a stash! And to me, it's rather big. I never thought I was the stashing type since generally, I'm very practical and frugal. However, yarn seems to be a whopping exception to this character trait. I have a Ravelry account (unfortunately with a different name because I'm an IDIOT!), and by most stashing standards it's not big, but I'm still too embarrassed. Oh, well....

And I know I have a box some where with more. of course, that's where the yarn is that I need to make myself a winter hat, so it must be found. I can't believe I have more than a box of yarn. It's crazy! Crazy, I tell ya!

Gladness

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:31:09 GMT

I'm so glad I remembered about this site. I've been trying to start a knitting blog on some other sites, and well, it's just not working. Whenever I try to "write for the blog" the writing is awful and boring beyond belief. So maybe this is where I should write and upload about my knitting. In the end, whether I stay here or go elsewhere will depend upon how user-friendly this is, since I am an illiterate when it comes to computers. I'm not scared of them. I really would like to know how to use them, but it just hasn't really happened yet. I browsed through a book when I bought this laptop last year. I think the book was about the Windows system I'm on. I found it completely useless because I already knew everything it said. And, believe me, that is not much! Upfront I must apologize for my ramblings and repetition at times. It has to do with an illness I'm battling (no, really, a lot of it does). Editing would seem to be the logical cure for this, however, once I start editing I can't stop. You see, it seems that I know how to say the same thing in many different ways. Sometimes that's a plus, but when it comes to me and blog writing, it's really not.

But... I do feel good about this new place to post my knitting knotes! (Oh, yeah, I have a hard time staying away from bad puns, or homonyms, or whatever that's called.)

So, HELLLLOOOOO BLOG-O-SPHERE! I'm baacckkkkk........

Ciao!
Charli

p.s. How is it possible that the spell check program for a blogging site does not have the word blog in its dictionary??????

Woolarina handpainted merino - WOW!

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 21:29:41 GMT

Many months ago I bought a small skein of Woolarina handpainted merino because I thought it was pretty. I quickly wound it into a ball and then it SAT. It's only 80 yards, of "worsted-bulky" so what am I supposed to do with it? The ball band suggests booties, but I don't wear booties, and certainly not that size.

I used variegated yarn way back in the early 70s. In first grade I knit ponchos with a neighbor who was giving purple variegated ponchos to all the neices in her family. To my surprise I got one too. (I think we made 8 total.)

My only other experience with variegated is this ugly cheap yarn my father's cousin loves. She got arthritis so I said I'd finish her afghan for her. The yarn is awful! Both in texture and color combo (white, blue, green, ugly).

Suddenly, today I decided to try out this yarn that's been balled up for months. I've only cast on ten stitches and I had to write in here about how much I love it! The colors are absolutely gorgeous. I cannot believe what a difference it makes to cast on beautiful changing colors.

I'll try to post a pic later.

Keep the knit going! (what does *that* mean?)

Ciao,

charli

First post

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:24:11 GMT

I'm new to all this, kinda. I hope to learn how to "truly" blog, meaning link and add pics and links and all that good stuff.

I thought this might be a good way to learn. I used to have a job where I had to figure things out every day. I miss that. So, I'll try my best to figure this stuff out, even though I generally don't understand computer stuff. Although I think I have the capacity, if I can find an explanation I understand. LOL.

Thanks for visiting!

Charli

[First task figure out how to do italics.]
[Second task figure out the "tags" thing.]