first-ever sock finished!

had the second day of sock class on Saturday afternoon and learned how to pick up stitches on the gusset and make decreases to make it fit. It wasn't as hard as I anticipated, but I definately think I should have chosen a lighter-colored yarn to learn on. It was hard to see all the stitches to be picked up along the edge of the heel and when it came time to kitchener-stitch the toe together, I had a very hard time seeing the stitches, but it all turned out. and guess what? it even fits my enormous-footed husband! hopefully I have enough of this navy yarn to make a second sock because I don't want to buy any more of this color. I did pick up some beautiful varigated yarn for my second pair which I got down down the leg and turned the heel last night while watching the Oscars. I wanted to do another pair quickly so I could remember how to do all the steps, but needed something more interesting than the plain blue yarn to look at. I'll do a sock in the pink/orange and then go back to Wes' second blue sock, then the second pink/orange one to finish out my socks for now. Too many distractions from my hoodie!!

learning socks, part I

Saturday I headed over to Anacapa Fine Yarns for the first of two sock-knitting classes. I had wanted to take this class before I made the Christmas stockings, but found a pattern for those easy enough to figure out myself (no turning heels or gussets!) once I found out the prior-to-Christmas sock class was full. Lois put me on the waiting list for the next class and I signed up, even though I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear knitted socks. The month of cold weather and no heater working in our apartment convinced me that I would love to wear knitted socks, but of course Saturday was 85 degrees and I had no interest in wool. but off I went to learn new things. I already knew how to knit in the round using dpns, but wanted to learn how to knit circularly with two circular needles. I found it was much easier to cast on and of similar difficulty to get the first round started, but then it was smooth sailing. I don't really mind using dpns, so probably I will go back and forth between two circulars and dpns, depending on my mood when I start a project. But Lois did warn us that if we knit one sock in a pair using dpns, we should use dpns for the second as well because gauge can be affected. once we were all comfortable knitting in the round (some in the class had never done it before) Lois had us put that aside and cast on with new yarn and needles to practice the heel, which she wanted us to complete on our own before next class on our real sock. I was nervous about the short rows and slipped stitches, but it came pretty easily and before I knew it, I had a little heel cup sitting in front of me (teal arrow pointing to it in the picture).
Saturday night Wes and I just hung out and watched a movie at home so I was able to finish the ribbing at the top of the sock and get in most the knitted rounds too. Yesterday I had a hard run at Wildwood with Tia and Wes' soccer game, then dinner and Wes left for work. I sat down to work on my sock again. I finished the rounds and started in on the heel. It didn't take long and I even remembered how to do the slipping and short rows. I wanted to keep knitting, but Lois has only shown us this far and I am even more nervous about the gusset (what the heck is a gusset?) than I was about the short rows on the heels, so I guess I'll put this aside until class next Saturday. but of course I couldn't resist trying it on :) p.s. glad I gave myself a pedicure on Saturday before class. love this pink from Sephora ... it is almost ridiculously too '80s pink, but it makes me sooo ready for summer but then I wouldn't get to wear the brown hoodie ... just the sleeve cap left on one arm, then another arm and pick up stitches for the hood and edging. the end is so close I can see it. maybe that is why I keep picking up other projects instead.

Knit fixes!

had a miserable day at work yesterday and was so thankful that I signed up to take Lois' "knit fixes" class ... otherwise I would have gone home and drank a whole bottle of two buck chuck.
but the class was great and I learned some really really helpful tips on how to fix problems in my knitting without ripping out whole rows. I even used the crochet hook a few times! Grandma would be so proud :)
Had I taken this class a week ago, I wouldn't have had to rip out six rows on the right front of my brown hoodie on Sunday night once I realized I forgot to make a cable twist. Anyway, I just ripped it out and re-knit those rows. Last night after the class I finished up the right front and started on the first sleeve. I'll have to m1 a whole bunch of times on the sleeves and I've never done that before, but I'm sure I can figure it out!

going backwards (and a recap of gauge class)

no more progress on either project this weekend ... if anything I went back a few steps because I had to rip out what I had started on the neck of the pink sweater (I picked up stitches backwards so the purls were on the wrong side, causing the neck to roll inward, instead of out). I also lost a step in the baby jumper ... I decided to stop by the yarn store on my way home from work on Friday, since I had everything with me, and had big plans of knitting that night. I had dropped a stitch on one shoulder and Lois pulled it all out and is having me do that whole shoulder over. She also showed me how to do the yarn-overs and they are way easier than I was making them out to be. I really do learn much better from watching and doing than from just looking at examples in a book. So, I did all that pulling out on Friday and then didn't knit much after that. Friday night I made cookies and drove them up to Wes at work. He had a call right as I pulled into the parking lot, so I had to wait for almost an hour. Good thing I brought my knitting! I finished the bodice up to the shoulder bind-offs while I was waiting for him. So everything I have left to do on the jumper is small and easy ... three shoulders, two button tabs and duplicate stitching a flower on to the second pocket ... then just three-needle bindoff for the left shoulder, and sewing on the buttons, tabs and pockets ... done! I want to get butterfly buttons ... how cute would that be on the blue sky? A woman at Anacapa on Friday while Lois was helping me told me of a place to go in Camarillo that sells cute buttons ... probably should have gone yesterday on the way back from getting my oil changed in Thousand Oaks.
Anyway, on Sunday I went to the gauge class and learned some new fun things about counting stitches in a ribbing and also that when I knit ribbing my stitches are WAY huger than when I knit stockinette so if I am making a sweater that has ribbing on the edges, I might want to use a smaller needle or something. Of course she suggested that I knit a gauge swatch of the ribbing and the body stitches. I hate doing the swatches (just like I hate doing test strips in the darkroom), but I was already a little bit of a convert after my first swatch for the pink sweater two months ago was way off from what the pattern suggested, and the class on Sunday just kept convincing me. Barbara also explained how to swap out yarns for patterns if you don't like the kind of yarn the pattern designer used. That was very helpful as well. It was kind of a funny class because I really had nothing to show from it at the end of the three hours except a growling stomach (who plans a class for noon to 3pm? that is prime lunch-eating time!) but I learned some things that will help me to have more success with my knitting projects in the future!! She also demonstrated Sweater Wizard, which is a computer program that builds a sweater pattern for you based on your gauge measurements from a particular yarn. It sounded interested, but for now I am going to stick to patterns that have already been tried and made, and not just computer generated. Barbara showed us some sweaters she had made from using Sweater Wizard and they looked good, but she is also a designer of knitted things herself and can probably wing it a little easier.
I am starting to think about my next project ... I have a couple ideas, but haven't bought yarn or anything yet. Hoping to get lots of knitting done Wednesday and Thursday while Wes is at work, then can go to Anacapa this weekend and get yarn for the next project.