Saturday, June 16, 2007

Road Trip almost here


Today I am going to make all final preparations for 2 weeks away. So I will have to put down the knitting for a bit. Tomorrow we celebrate Father's Day and my Birthday (which is actually on Monday).

As you can see I have started a pair of socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I really wanted to do a pair of the Six-Stitch Tessellated pattern with 4 balls of cotton yarn I have to match. But after reading about 100% cotton socks I decided that maybe I ought to try to mix in some wool. I decided on using left over sockotta and one ball of cotton to hopefully increase the elasticity. Then I picked a Ten-Stitch Mosaic pattern. I have to say I don't like the way they are coming out. It must have to do with the patterning in the sockotta yarn. It seems to mess up the eye in seeing the lovely Simulated Basket Weave Pattern.

And of course I am glad I am not doing this with 4 strands. As you can see I am working 2 pair simultaneously. Running yarn each from outer and inner strands and boy have I got a tangle that seems impossible to get out. The strands are still feeding OK, but when the tangle gets too bad, I will have to cut and restart somewhere. I always seem to be learning. Next time I will take the time to split the balls before starting a multi-yarn sock.

The texture is created on these socks by doing the even rows all purled. This is a real adventure for me, as I really dislike purling. But it is not too bad. Just slowing me down a bit. And unlike large items, the slightly looser purls don't seem to be causing a problem. I was going to take it all out (to the ribbing) and do something simpler, but as I progress I don't "hate" the socks, they just don't look as nice as the picture. I will still wear them though. Which reminds me, this is my first "real" pair of socks for me! The cotton ones don't fit in shoes, and do stretch alot, so are more like bed socks. The last 3 pairs of socks I made for my girls were all done toe-up, which worked GREAT for me, these cuff-down will be a new adventure.

Speaking of adventure, we plan to start out Monday at 5:00am to get to NJ before rush hour traffic. Pick up Grandma and head to Hershey. A few hours of Hershey fun and a night at a farm house. Found a really cool website for farm style places to stay in PA (http://www.afarmstay.com/). We are staying at the Stone Haus Farm B&B. Then we travel to Kentucky to check out Kentucky Down Under. From there to Nashville and our final stop in Horn Lake, MS. We'll stay visiting cousins and family for 6 days and then venture back. No plans yet for the return trip. Mostly winging it with the hopes to stop in DC on the way. Have a great June and I'll be back early July!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like the socks - I've never done a mosaic pattern, so I'll be watching...
When I do 2 color socks I actually do them in tandem instead of on the same needle - even with 4 balls it's a tangled mess. So I do cuff of one/cuff of the next and continue like that until they are both to the toes.
Have a great trip!! We will get together when you get back - it will have to be sometime after July 7 since my sister is coming July 2-7 and who knows what we'll be doing.