Arne (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} thebrightboy) wrote,@ 2009-02-16 17:16:00 |
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purple raven widdershins, take 4
As you may recall, for my birthday last year I got a membership in one of the inaugural Hanks Yarn and Fiber sock clubs. And wayyyy back in October, I got my first skein of yarn, an unbelievably sexeh number called Purple Raven. Since that time, I have dorked around on a few projects and have faithfully carried the wee skeins in the bottom of my knitting back, just waiting until the time was right to start. Eventually, I realized that the time would never be "right," so I dove in.
From the best little yarn shop in Gainesville, I got a pair of Addi turbo #2 needles and dove into the generic Widdershins toe-up pattern. Magic cast-on, indeed! I didn't actually *swatch*, per se, but I did some measurements and took a few guesses about the gauge, and dove in. Yeah...the results? Not so nice. It was a remarkable combination of over- and underthinking that left me with a butt-ugly mess. The process, however, felt good. It just needed a little tweaking.
Back to the yarn store for a new pair of needles, because clearly that will solve everything! Addi turbo #0s, this time. The 00s and smaller needles are strangely appealing to me but at the same time I think I'll snap them like twigs in my clumsy hands, so 0s. Excellent. So, what did we learn last time? We learned that we cast on way too many stitches, so let's do significantly fewer this time. Gauge? Lolwut? This time, it actually works out reasonably well! The magic cast-on is awesome and the increases are...well, increasing, but it rapidly becomes obvious that I haven't cast on enough stitches. My feet are not nearly pointy enough to fit into these putative socks. Rip it all back and start again! I do have a picture of the "end" result, though, from this attempt:
So, okay, let's do some guesstimating. That was 20 stitches cast on and it was too small, so let's try 40! Good planning, right? Cast on...knit...knit...increase...it's okay, but...hmm. I think this is going to be too big, if you can believe it. And I *really* don't like how those increases are looking. There's a hole, because the way I know how to do increases is to grab the running yarn between stitches and use that to make a new loop. Ick. To the yarn store, quick! Help me, Obi Wan Haldechick! You're my only hope!
After a quick lesson in alternative increases (and how to twist the stitches on the way I was doing it, so as to obscure the hole a little), I'm back for stab #4. This time I cast on 28 stitches (shut up! it's a perfectly cromulent amount!) and am using the knit-into-the-front-and-back technique I have just learned to do the increases, and am very happy with how it's going. It's still too small, but I just realized that I'm doing twice as many increases as I thought I was, so I think this is going to end up close to correct. We'll see. Worst case? Take five. :-D
As you may recall, for my birthday last year I got a membership in one of the inaugural Hanks Yarn and Fiber sock clubs. And wayyyy back in October, I got my first skein of yarn, an unbelievably sexeh number called Purple Raven. Since that time, I have dorked around on a few projects and have faithfully carried the wee skeins in the bottom of my knitting back, just waiting until the time was right to start. Eventually, I realized that the time would never be "right," so I dove in.
From the best little yarn shop in Gainesville, I got a pair of Addi turbo #2 needles and dove into the generic Widdershins toe-up pattern. Magic cast-on, indeed! I didn't actually *swatch*, per se, but I did some measurements and took a few guesses about the gauge, and dove in. Yeah...the results? Not so nice. It was a remarkable combination of over- and underthinking that left me with a butt-ugly mess. The process, however, felt good. It just needed a little tweaking.
Back to the yarn store for a new pair of needles, because clearly that will solve everything! Addi turbo #0s, this time. The 00s and smaller needles are strangely appealing to me but at the same time I think I'll snap them like twigs in my clumsy hands, so 0s. Excellent. So, what did we learn last time? We learned that we cast on way too many stitches, so let's do significantly fewer this time. Gauge? Lolwut? This time, it actually works out reasonably well! The magic cast-on is awesome and the increases are...well, increasing, but it rapidly becomes obvious that I haven't cast on enough stitches. My feet are not nearly pointy enough to fit into these putative socks. Rip it all back and start again! I do have a picture of the "end" result, though, from this attempt:
So, okay, let's do some guesstimating. That was 20 stitches cast on and it was too small, so let's try 40! Good planning, right? Cast on...knit...knit...increase...it's okay, but...hmm. I think this is going to be too big, if you can believe it. And I *really* don't like how those increases are looking. There's a hole, because the way I know how to do increases is to grab the running yarn between stitches and use that to make a new loop. Ick. To the yarn store, quick! Help me, Obi Wan Haldechick! You're my only hope!
After a quick lesson in alternative increases (and how to twist the stitches on the way I was doing it, so as to obscure the hole a little), I'm back for stab #4. This time I cast on 28 stitches (shut up! it's a perfectly cromulent amount!) and am using the knit-into-the-front-and-back technique I have just learned to do the increases, and am very happy with how it's going. It's still too small, but I just realized that I'm doing twice as many increases as I thought I was, so I think this is going to end up close to correct. We'll see. Worst case? Take five. :-D
