Saturday, November 11

F&F Official FO's

I managed to finish off the F&F socks last night, as I was hoping! Nice when it works out that way - somehow it doesn't usually. But that's one thing I really like about knitting socks. No worries about the perfect edging stitch, or you know - maybe these puppies need a lace edged pocket, or any other such nonsense. Socks are so wonderfully straightforward. I've developed my own preferences over the years and know that if I have a ball of sock yarn and 4 dpn's I can usually just go to town without having to pull out 10 different reference books. Unlike my Caramel Swirl cardigan which is still languishing at the point you last saw it.

I've tried - really I've tried. I've been over all the lace patterns at knitting-and.com. Numerous times even. I've tried the lace edging patterns at Yarnover.net. I've been through my own personal knitting library - pulled out all the books pictured, and still nothing that just resonates as being the exact right thing. Now - this is just a very small sampling of my knitting books - but out of the ones that I've pulled - you'd think I'd find something right?

This Caramel Swirl cardigan - she is stubborn. I started off thinking that I really wanted a saddleshouldered cardigan - and ended up with a standard raglan. The plain lines I think just call for an i-cord neck edging, so that is what I'm going to try as soon as I get done updating my bloggity blog. Just let the darn sweater do what it wants, and get the heck outta the way.




Oh - I was talking about my F&F Socks, wasn't I? I'm still not feeling 100% - but much better than I was. They started off life as a merino/tencel blend that I bought at Lambtown. Which I dyed in a dye-day frenzy a couple of months ago. Spun it up pretty fine 500 yards/4ozs. A fairly standard 2 ply. The way that it self stripes was somewhat planned. I divided the roving at the half way point, and took that first half and just spun that up with long colour repeats. The second half I split into 4ths lengthwise to get shorter repeats, and then plied the two bobbins together.


I mentioned that the needles that I used were horribly mismatched.... I even managed to get a pic of the needles I used with the socks in question. I guess I am starting to feel a bit better!

Final verdict on the socks... They're OK - I'm not totally in love with them - but that's probably just my general illness speaking. They are softer and squishier on the feet than my normal socks. And I've been needing new socks anyway - so I guess it's all good.

When I went to the doctor yesterday I was actually wearing one black sock and one white sock. All I could find clean. I don't have a washer and dryer at home, and just have not had the energy to do laundry, and to be honest - the need to have matching socks on was not at the top of my priority list.

The Christmas Cacti are blooming at my house. I love the weird alien looking flowers that appear every year.



14 comments:

Julie said...

Sorry to hear about the crud...beautiful socks though! :)

Monika said...

Your socks remind me of the title page of 200 ripple stitch patterns by Jan Eaton. They are lovely.

Donna said...

The socks are great!!

I love Christmas Cactus. My grandma has always had them, and her's do so well--they get HUGE! The woman has a green thumb.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty socks!

Shell said...

Beautiful socks and flowers! Congrats on the finish!!

Feel better soon.

Ducktastic said...

The socks are great! The colours remind me of a Monet painting. Perhaps they are Waterlily socks? :)

Carol said...

What giant Christmas cacti flowers. I love the colour. Mine is flowering too, but it's a boring red flower and not nearly as large as yours. Wow!

Lloer said...

I also thought the socks reminded me of a Monet painting. They're really pretty!

Teri.p said...

I think your socks are gorgeous! I don't usually have any great urge to learn to spin, until I think of spinning my own sock yarn. One of these days....

Anonymous said...

Great dye job! (and nicely knit too.) It must have been rewarding to see the beautifull colors emerge. Wish I could dye and spin.

Lorena said...

Oooo.... pretty! Fantastic job with those socks-- between the dying and the spinning and the knitting I am just... wow. I'm awed! Good-- no, GREAT job!!!

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry you have been so sick. I hope you're feeling better now. Your illness didn't make your blog any less interesting to read. I still enjoyed it as much as ever.

Sarah said...

Love the socks!

Way cool. I can't wait to finish my pair!

Gorgeous color too.

Leah said...

The sox look great Abi! I'm really fascinated by the way you spun that stuff up and I'm going to have to rip off that idea, if you don't mind:)