A Bluestocking Knits

Fruit Coulis

Some knee socks for Julia, Jitterbug in "Fruit Coulis", with a K3, P1, K1, P1 rib, offset by three at the cuff, as in the Yarrow Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks, but with a standard slip stitch heel and wedge toe.

The color is even more vivid in real life, I assure you.

I have been listening to a new album of mine, "Le Jour du Poisson" by Thomas Fersen.  He has a song each on two of the French Putomayo albums, "French Playground" and "Paris", both of which albums we listen to quite a lot -- this is how I heard of him.  I find his music fascinating -- melodic and quirky, intelligently crafted, with each song having a character completely its own and yet still recognizably "Fersen".  One song has a klezmer-y feel, another salsa, one a rather thrilling tango, one a lovely lilting piano and orchestra accompaniment that makes it almost a lullaby, another has a rather formal brass band intro and then sweeps in with an unexpectedly charming lounge-singer feel.  Fersen's voice is rough and smoky -- very Gauloise.  I suspect that Fersen's music might bear comparisons to Tim Finn's, also quirky, melodic, and highly intelligent.  Alas, that I do not speak French! for I am somewhat dismayed that I understand very little of Fersen's lyrics -- one of the things I appreciate deeply about Tim Finn is that his lyrics are so interesting (and they rhyme, always for me a sign that the writer has given a lot of thought to what he wants to say) -- but this is certainly my own limitation, and not Fersen's!

Thoughts on the Fuzzyfeet

What have I been doing all this month, you ask?  Knitting?  Ha!  I have been driving small children hither and yon -- tonight I am up late waiting to go and collect my mouse/little angel/Gingerette from Dress Rehearsal #1.

Well, I have managed to winkle out of my free minute-and-a-half this month a pair of the famous Fuzzyfeet by Theresa Stenersen of Bagatell, though.  These were going to be a Christmas present, but I've sort of, well, redirected them a bit.  Here are the before and after photos, with the first half of a pair of Spey Valley socks for scale.

Zoinks!  I washed them on my front-loader's warm-cold setting but did not "stop when the desired size" as I wanted them to be easy-care, and I personally am not about the hand-washing of the socks, and don't want to mess around with running out to the machine every two minutes, so I doubted that auntie would be either.  They shrank much more than expected, unfortunately.  I don't mind much, though -- it was an experiment, after all.  The felted fabric is rather fascinating -- wonderful, how all of the wobbly bits just sort of disappear, too!

I did have to break into the second skein to finish the last two inches, so Fuzzyfeet knitters, take heed.

Alas, they are now far too small for auntie, and so they have been glommed onto by Laura, who is quite taken with them.  She was, however, quite mortified when I asked her to step out onto the front porch this morning to model them in the only available light, and she shrieked mightily.  "Mom! I'm still in my pyjamas!"  So the photo is a bit rushed.

Still, the Fuzzies are warm and much as the name implies, and Julia is already casting not-so-subtle hints about a pair for her as well.

Oh, there's my warning bell -- off I go --

Thoughts on Monica

If you are looking for a quick, simple, fun knit for a little girl, Monica by Christine Schwender may be just the thing!

I made a few modifications -- worked it in the round, added an extra row of garter stitch at the bottom of the ruffle (which I'd worked first) and three more at the hem to keep it from curling, and made the straps in I-cord.  Julia thought that the ruffle under her arms was itchy at first, but after a minute or two its flirtiness won her over.

This is a gift for a friend of ours who is three tomorrow, but I'm having a hard time getting it back from Julia now, and so I foresee another one in the near future!

All Socks, All the Time

Now, that was a nice long blog break, wasn't it?!  Not intentional, I assure you.  It's funny how summers for parents are busier than the school months.  We've had day camp -- long, hot, exhausting, but lots of fun -- swimming lessons, birthday parties, a bout of 'flu for Laura -- whew!  Not a lot of time for knitting, let alone blogging about it.

But if you're wondering if a skein of Jitterbug is enough to make a pair Jaywalkers for a size Australian 8/US 10 foot, the answer --

is no.  My feet are smaller than the recipient's, so it's not just a matter of an inch and a half, either.  Gaah.

I did think about ripping them out altogether and making them shorter in the leg, but frankly I like them a bit long, and so suspect that it would be better to have them "too long" rather than shorter, so that was out.  I ran to the yarn shop and bought another skein, which was quite obviously not the same dyelot, and then had to decide whether I should just carry on or pull out half of the foot and alternate skeins -- I decided that it would be apparent either way, and that it would be much less likely to show if the new part was further down the foot.  Much less work for me, too! so it was an easy decision.

The colors, curiously, are not as variegated in real life as they are in the photos -- the reds and yellows don't pop out as much as they seem to here.  I tried all sorts of various settings on my camera, but none seems to capture the essence of the stuff.  You'll have to take my word for it.  The second skein is definitely more subtle, as well as -- rather alarmingly -- of a finer gauge.

And here is a pair of socks for Julia, which I finished last night.  The pattern is from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, with a picot edging and 3x1 rib, lined up with the picots because that's the kind of knitter I am.

Posed by Julia on the edge of the bed.  She doesn't like having her picture taken unless she's in the right mood, so I may have to wait for a modelling shoot!

I found the picot edging to be extremely fiddly at this gauge, and will most likely not attempt it again with the Wildfoote, which was not only very splitty, but I had chosen a color (Columbine) which made it difficult to see what I was doing, with its "tri-color twists."

Nevermind -- Julia is happy!

"Sing Hey, the Merry Maiden"

This is seriously cute -- the Merry Maiden's dress by Gryphon Perkins, from the Spring '07 IK.  It certainly strikes a chord with my own mediaeval-princess fantasies!

I'm not sure than I'd want to spend a hundred dollars on a girl's handknit, though, even if it is for my own lovely princesses.  In wool, in southern California.  Here's one in Plymouth Encore.  I'm still in the planning stages, of course, but not sure whether I'd go for economy, or wool blend and washability -- Shepherd Worsted?  All-Seasons Cotton?

Thoughts on the Jaywalker Junior Socks

I started out making these for Laura, and they fit rather snugly, so they went on to Julia instead, as she didn't have a knitted pair of her own yet -- these are still on the big side, but I can almost see her growing as I watch, so I think they'll be fine after only a few months!

I used 68 sts -- one st less per each side of the bias -- a simple matter.  The bias pattern seems pretty forgiving, and can be sized down quite a bit.  (Grumperina offers some suggestions about resizing up here.)

The Shepherd Sock is lovely yarn to work with -- it feels wonderful in my hands, makes a beautiful fabric, and the colors are rich and intense.

But here is proof positive that when it somes to space-dyed yarn, I have no idea what I'm talking about -- I remarked earlier with great confidence after the first sock that since I was making the pattern in a smaller size, the stripes were coming out slightly thicker than they would have done.  You will notice that the second sock I worked, on Julia's left foot in the photos, has the stripes in a fairly narrow pattern.  So much for predictability!  And the socks in a yet smaller size -- casting on 60 -- did not stripe at all, merely blobbed, and so unattractively that I tried again two more times before I gave up in despair.  (Another reason that I gave the socks to Julia instead of Laura.)

The second pair started out very promisingly, but then started to go up straight -- at the center shaping line in the photo on the left, the purple is on one side and the green/blue on the other -- very disconcerting.  So I've ripped them out and hidden the yarn away for another day, and decided to enjoy the ones I do like, the ones that Julia is so pleased with that she wanted to take a photo herself!

Jaywalking

Kids' socks! you gotta love 'em!  This is how far you can get with just one sleepless night and an early morning!

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the pattern is the fabulously simple yet brilliant Jaywalker socks by Grumperina.  I'm late to the party -- again! -- I know, but I'm hooked now.

And yes, this is more Shepherd Sock "Lakeview" knitted up.  Since I'm resizing the pattern to a child's size, the color bands are wider than they might ordinarily be.  If you want to be entered in the drawing for two skeins, please post a comment below!

Thoughts on Some Araucania Mittens

We've been talking about going up to the mountains to play in the snow -- the girls have never seen snow -- and so we've been getting ready clothing-wise.  I had to search high and low for a suitable jacket for Laura, since here in southern California, the summer wear comes out after the Christmas sales, and there was not a jacket to be found in her size, not even for ready money.  I had to buy one that is bigger than even I usually buy for a fast-growing first-grader, but my consolation is that it was on sale, and she'll grow into it.  But no-one who calls herself a knitter would let her children go out into the snow for the first time in their lives in store-bought mittens! and so I dug around in my stash of Araucania Nature Wool and borrowed Ann Budd's Handy Book of Knitting Patterns from the library again, and now they each have a pair of custom-fitted, made-with-love mittens of their very own.

My gauge on the US2 needles is a smidge under 6 sts per 1 inch -- firm but still pliable and comfy.  It's a very simple pattern -- I extended the rib at the wrists about a half-inch each, and wasn't very happy with the little "point" at the ends of the fingers on Julia's (where all of the decreases come together at once), and so on the second pair, I chose the "8 sts rem" option instead of 4, and might even do 12 next time -- but this is a minor quibble compared to the ease of knitting (two days! felt like I was flying), and the girls' delight in wearing them, even on fairly warm days.

This gives you an idea of how much wool it took for the child's medium-sized mittens -- the ball on the left is a full skein, and the one on the right is after making the pair for Julia.  (I was going to make Laura's pair in the purple, which has been her favorite color for some time now, but after seeing the red, she chose that!  Admittedly, it is not a very purple purple, and the red is beautifully intense.)

Thoughts on the Fancy Socks

Some time ago, I promised Laura a pair of knitted socks, and when I saw this purple Supersock from Cherry Tree Hill, it was Fate.

I originally wanted to make socks with a ruffle around the cuff, and set my heart on the one from a Jaeger book a few years ago, which in small doses in the Supersock looked lovely, but in a long-enough length to fit around even Laura's slender ankle drooped most unbecomingly.  I fiddled, tried a few other edgings, and then thought of this one from an old Debbie Bliss sailor jacket, turning it sideways.  Picking up the stitches in the middle of the edging is in fact an dodge to head off that droopiness that comes with an unsupported edging, but after a while I got interested in the sideways-ness as a design element in itself.

Afterwards, Laura confessed that she actually liked this sock better than the ruffled one, anyway.

The pattern, which is available in the Original Patterns album in the sidebar, is sized to fit girl's small, medium, and large, or approximately 5 1/2 in. /14 cm (6 1/2 in. /16.5 cm, 7 1/2 in. /19 cm) foot circumference.  If you use Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, I would recommend not drying these socks by machine, as the slight haze that will result would obscure the lace of the cuff.

We-ell....

Now, I knew when I chose Shepherd Sock for the Nether Garments that things would happen, that with the shaping of the piece the color shifts would go in different, even unexpected directions.  It's the nature of hand-painted wool, of course.  I figured that I would just be kind of zen about it, and let the colors go where they would.

Along the ankle and calf, I like this.  It's pleasing and fairly regular.

This, at the knee, I can live with -- it has a little jolt where the calf shaping begins, but it sorts itself out.

This is getting weird --

And this, above the thigh shaping, is just bizarre.

I'd been thinking that I'd use the tights for yoga, being warm and close-fitting, you know, but I don't find anything about these flashes the least bit meditative.  Want to see the full effect? --

The moral is, you never know.

Now, that said, the garment itself is very comfortable so far.  It looks a bit bulgy at the top, but that's from the circular needles pulling it in; the above picture is a view of the front, with the thigh shaping at the inseam.  It fits my leg perfectly, of course, being made to measure, and with Elizabeth's careful planning and simple formulas it all went together without a hitch.

Here is a photo of the shaping, the back of the knee at the right and the beginning of the inseam at the left.

And I like the Shepherd Sock, too.  It's a bit splitty on the fine needles, but it feels nice in my hands.  I was thinking, even as late as when I turned on the computer this morning, that I might keep up with it, finish it anyway, not wanting to give up on my Almanac project for this month (and I have eight skeins of the wool!).  But the colors are just not working for me this way -- lightning bolts on the thighs! I don't think so -- and I don't see how I could reknit it -- maybe working with alternate balls, it could work! -- and still finish by the end of the month.  These Nether Garments didn't have much appeal to me at first, but now after actually trying on at least a part of it, it is not uninteresting.  (This may seem a little like Westley's remark in the Fire Swamp, something along the lines of "It's not too bad, really," but I'll leave it there.)  Mary at The Knitting Zone very kindly calculated the yardage for the Shepherd Sock for me, and it looks like eight would be plenty, as I've only just added the third one -- I was going to acknowledge her help in the final post on this project, but I think that for now this is it.  For those who might pass this pattern over, it's worth another look.  In a lighter wool like Shepherd Sock, they would make excellent yoga wear or ballet leg warmers, for those in less Wisconsin-like climates, or something warm and cozy in a thicker wool for those long winters in the North.  Like with the Chainmail Sweater in the March Chapter, yarn selection can make the world of difference!  I would only suggest a solid color....

Eva, thanks for the link to Zimmermania, a new knitalong dedicated to Elizabeth's patterns and wisdom.  I'll join when I feel a little less incompetent!

I needed a bit of a confidence-booster last night, and this came off the needles only an hour or so past my bedtime -- another Odessa, with beads this time.  The blue is the color Julia chose for her hat, and Laura's will be the lilac-pink.

"Knit on"!