FOs and In the works

When last I wrote, I had just finished the last of my christmas knitting - socks for my Dad and his girlfriend. I'm happy to say they are off the needles, washed, blocked, photographed, posted and received. I used the smae zbeehive booklet that I did for the Grey Man Socks. This pattern is charmingly called 4 Ply Plain Sock under the title For Two Feet of Comfort. It's not quite as plain as the name suggests, but darn close. There is a panel of 1x1 ribbing down the leg of the sock to help it stay up. I thought that was a pretty good idea myself, who likes saggy socks? The rest is in plain ol' stockinette stitch. 2 balls of Phildar's Preference did the trick. I've given my opinion on this yarn when I finished off the Grey Man Socks and it hasn't changed. It's a basic, serviceable sock yarn that comes in a fairly basic colour range and holds little in the way of surprises. Good for guy socks, not something I'd choose for myself.

Trekking XXL was the choice for the Girlfriend's socks. I used the Yarrow Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I often find knitting ribbed socks a bit tedious, but this one had enough going for it to keep me interested. I especially enjoyed the German heel / French toe combination. As always, the pattern was clearly written and easy to follow - thank you Nancy Bush. I'm not sure how I feel about the yarn itself. The colour I really liked, although it wasn't so popular with anyone else. It was the yarn itslef. I found it rather unevely spun - in places it was rather loose and fuzzy and in others it was very tightly spun and almost thread-like, making it knit up a little unevenly, especially worrisome in the high friction area of the heel. Now, this was my first experience with Trekking, perhaps it's an anomally? I have another ball in my stash and will have to knit that up sometime soon to see how it compares.

That's it for FOs, here's what's in the works : here in camp Through the Back Loop we've been suffering from a bout knitterly indecision and perhaps a mild case of castonitis. We beleive that this merely a temporary affliction resulting from an extended period of Knitting For Others and can be easily remedied by some seriously selfish knitting. After emerging from months of Knitting For Others, knitters often find themselves dazed and confused by the mere idea of having no projects in the queue that immediately demand their attention and come attached with Looming Deadlines. In this period of adjustment the knitter will often lose his/her mind and not know What to Knit Next. This can be troubling and lead to sensatiosn of being directionless and adrift in a never ending sea of free internet patterns. We at Through the Back Loop are not ashamed to admit that we have experienced this. We took a deep breath, frogged a sock cast on out of sheer panic and are once again in control of our knitting faculties.

Whilst browsing Ravelry (oh how I love you Ravelry!) for, well, everything, I came across this pattern for some facny mittens. I am a sucker for fancy mittens and it just so happens that my mom's birthday is coming up. Perfect! The yarn is alpaca - the natural colour is a score from a Pacafiesta booth and the other (which is actually more of a maroon/mulberry colour) is Frog Tree Alpaca. So far, the cuff is done. I've been distracted by some selfish knitting - socks for me!

I bought a skein of the Estelle Arequipa. Divine. I am in love. This stuff is fabulous. I want to take it out for dinner I like it so much. I had a hard time choosing a pattern - nothing to complicated, it would get lost in the colours, not a plain one, too boring. So, unable to find on that I liked, I made my own. It's a basic sock - 72 sts on 2mm needles, about 9st/inch. 2x2 Ribbing holds it up and a little cable runs down the inner and out leg. I ended the cable at the heel, but in retrospect, I would ahve continued it down the foot. Live and learn. The first sock is done and the second is well on it's way. There will definitely be more of this stuff in my future.

My final in the works item is a Fleece Artist hat kit. I can no longer deny that it is frickin' cold outside and I do not own a suitable hat. I'm not sure that this one will really do the trick either, but it's pretty and I like the way it looks.

I'm also not sure if I can sustain myself for the miles of stockingette that this hat requires. We shall have to see how well my stick-to-itness holds.

On that note, my toes are chilly so I must get to knitting. And laundry.

One quick note before I go: thank you to MissMe of Knit Me to The End of Time for posting a comment. I swear, getting those emails that let me know of a new comment make my day. If there are any lurkers out there, don't be shy!

Happy knitting!

Stash Diving, the Attack by Jack and a New Sock.

Sometimes a girl just needs to brag. Pictured is the beautiful (and capacious) cedar chest that my Beloved designed and built for me as a christmas gift. I love it. I want to hug it. He may notknit or understand my obsession with knitting and all things yarn related, but he made me a cedar chest for my yarn. It makes me love him extra. It's curently the repository for the sweater - sized amounts of yarn, my alpaca collection (because alpaca is like crack to me, I can never have enough), my umbrella swift and skein winder. The last two items are also courtesy of the Beloved. He rocks.

Stash diving was kind of fun - I spent a lovely afternoon rooting around in there, rediscovering what I had. For instance, I reacquainted myself with some Briggs & Little single-ply sport weight in a nice marled green and some in a natural cream - perfect for a pair of fancy mittens. I also discovered 2 balls of Rowan Soft Baby - where that came from I have no idea, nor do I know what to do with it. I'll let it marinate in the collection until something suitable comes along.

I also found a bag with an assorted collection of left over sock yarn - you know you have on e too, a little stash of leftovers that are too big to throw away and too small to use. I'm going to keep collecting until I have enough obb bits left to make The Ugliest Socks on Earth. They will be fabulous I'm sure.

Jack the cat also enjoyed stash diving, particularly when I relented and tossed him a ball of leftover something. He enjoyed himself thoroughly.

In my last post I wrote about some Lorna's Laces that had just arrived in the mail and said that I had some plans to make a fancy sock. And so I did. Throwing all other projects aside (sorry Dad, sorry Ruth), I cast on for a pair of 9-to-5 Socks by Nicole of allbuttonedup.wordpress.com. What a great pattern. It satisfied my hankering for a fancy sock without being too complicated.

The pattern is well written and well thought out and introduced me to a new stitch. I realy enjoyed how the spiral rib flowed out of the ribbing and continued down either side of the heel.

The heel flap pattern was a nice change from the usual standby and really complemented the overall design of the sock. The sock is pretty, patterned and stretchy, as well as fun to knit. A keeper I say, now let's hope Nicole os nice enough to share any of her future sock designs with us.

I liked the yarn almost as much as I liked the pattern. It was my first project with Lorna's Laces and I'm looking forward to working with it again. It feels delicious, almost silky, and seems to knit up nicely. I haven't washed these yet (okay, this one, as I just finished this sock this afternoon and cast on for it's mate this evening), so I can't comment on how it holds up in the wash. I'm holding the Cranberry in reserve for a pair of Roza's Socks - thanks to Deb for the suggestion! [Everyone should check out Deb's blog - that woman is a sock knitting machine. The way I look at it is, if Deb recommends a particular pattern for a particular

sock yarn, do what she says, she knows socks. She knit 79 (!!!!!) pairs of socks last year. I am both awed, inspired and kind of intimidated. Plus she's very nice. Go check it out.].
Knowing that I have not knit 79 pairs of socks last year, or ever, I feel compelled to go finish my Dad's christmas socks (don't look at me like that, he and his girlfriend have been in South America for the last 4 weeks, they didn't need woolly socks down there). I will post pics when they're done. Happy knitting!

Yarn in the mail!

I love getting things in the mail. I'm like a small child - counting down the days until my package arrives. This package of yarny deliciousness is my very first eBay purchase. I bought this from emtnestr Linda. I'm very pleased with my first eBay encounter - fast service,quick delivery and candy! Plus this woman has a fabulous selection of sock yarn. I will definitely order from her in the future.

As for the yarn - that's right, Lorna's Laces. I've been wanting to try this stuff for ages. I've read the rave reviews and had to check it out for myself. It literally arrived in my hot little hands about 25 minutes ago and I'm going to cast on tonight just as soon as I get home. This stuff feels so nice and the colours are very pretty. Here you see displayed in all their wooly glory is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn in Cranberry and China Blue. I'm very excited to try this stuff out. I've already got a pattern in mind for the China Blue - I won't say just yet what it is, just in case I change my mind, but it'll be a fancy sock for certain.

That said, I must tackle the lunch dishes and prepare to brave the elements - happy knitting!

Happy After Christmas!

Happy-After-Christmas, Not-Quite-New-Year's!

I figured since the year is drawing to a close, I better post something before my readership completely dwindles to the occassional accidental tourist.

I hope everyone had a lovely christmas, filled with lots of tasty eats, good company and nicely wrapped presents. Here at Through the Back Loop we had a busy but enjoyable holiday and are dreading a return to real life. I could definitely get used to leading a life of leisure gentle reader. Though I've been enjoying my time off, it hasn't all been leisurely. I'm a knitter. It's christmas. I knit like a house on fire. I delivered my Unbloggable Project to Miss J. and was happy that they were a) a surprise and b) well received. Nobody knits for a knitter - which is too bad really, because nobody appreciates knitting more. I think she and her mitts will be very happy together. Too bad I forgot to take some pictures of them. Ah well, next time.

The mittens you see here in all their geometric glory are the second Unbloggable Project. They haven't been delivered yet, but Mammals knows about them already (okay, okay, she was there when I picked out the yarn and we're knitting buddies. Plus she knows me well enough to know that golden yellow, rusty orange and navy are not quite my favourite palette). The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Mostly Mittens. I heart this book. I desperately want a copy of this book and have been stalking it on Chapter's website. Temporarily Unavailable to Order is not what I want to see people. Just saying. I knit them on 2.25mm bamboo dpns and used Sisu. I haven't read any overly complementary reviews of this yarn and was expecting the worst. Overall, not a bad experience. Yes, it is a little on the splitty side, but other than that, not bad. It comes in a pretty wide range of colours and is affordable. I'm not sure that I would use it for socks as the yarn did develop a bit of a halo after I washed it by hand. I think the fuzzy factor would be even more pronounced if washed by machine and would make the item look worn out before it's time. However, these are mittens and I think they'll have an easier time of things than a pair of socks would. I'd use the yarn again and will definately knit more mittens from this book in the future.

It wasn't all socializing and relaxing between delivering gifts. Things were accomplished. The christmas knitting list grew (again) and 2 more pairs of socks were added to the queue. I'm happy to say that 1 sock from each pair is finished and the recipients, who are out of the country until mid January, will come home to some nice wooly socks after their South American adventure. One pair is knit is a delightful swamp green (another pair of man socks) and the other is from Trekking XXL, colour 105. I chose the Yarrow Ribbed Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. That pattern held 2 new elements for me - the German heel and the French Toe. I liked both, especially the decorative stiches along the edge of the heel flap and gusset.

I also managed to knit myself a pair of mittens from Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition by Terri Shea. Another fabulous book. The patterns are visually interesting and addictive to knit while the history is informative, well written and approachable. I highy recommend it for any fancy mitten lovers out there. Traditionally worked in black and white, for my own pair of NHM#9, I used a grapey-purple alpaca in a fingering weight and some natural cream coloured alpaca, both held double throughout, knit on 2.75mm dpns. The result was a pair of warm, thick mittens that I love. Next time I would use smaller needles and a single strand of each yarn for a pair of thinner, less bulky mitts. Love this book.

I know that as New Year's approaches, resolutions are the big thing. Well gentle reader I too have soem resolutions and here they are in no particular order: post more regularly, practice active stash enhancement whenever the opportunity presents itself (we'll leave the restraint to other, more mature knitters), post on other knitblogs in the hopes that they might visit mine and finally, I resolve to knit more. Not just for myself, but for other folks as well. So far the knitted gifts have gone over well, even my BF liked his man socks and requested another pair ("But just in grey, just like the first pair").Besides, if I didn't give stuff away, I'd be up to my ears in all things knit.

Happy New Year's everybody and happy knitting.

Holy Hiatus!

Well, I guess that I can't complain about other bloggers falling behind considering how long it's been since I last posted anything. Sheesh - where does the time go?

I last left you with Stan, the birthday robot. My birthday has since come and gone and was pretty good as birthdays go. The BF's parents gave me a generous discoutn to my local yarn store and I have put it to good use. Mammals and I had a good time browsing the aisles and touching everything we could get our hands on. LK has some lovely new baby llama that has got to be some of the softest yarn I have ever felt. Needless to say, I want it. Piles of it. Enough of to roll around on in various stages of undress. Yes, it really is that soft. Go feel some, you'll understand. I picked up some Cascade 220 in a lively turquoise to knit myself this sweater and some Sisu in some earthy tones to knit my final Unbloggable Project and finally a ball of plain ol' navy Pattons Classic Merino, which I combined with some left over Pattons in another shade, to make this hat for my mom. Yarn bucks - one of the best gifts ever. The pattern is Center Square from Knitty. It was a quick knit - I whipped it up last night, though I did modify it a bit. I knit it as directed on 8mm needles, but wasn't happy with the way the ribbing turned out. At this point I had already finished the darn thing and was not about to rip it out and start over. I did what any sensible knitter would do - I cut the ribbing off. I snipped off the offending ribbing, picked up the live stitches and reknit it on a 6mm circ. I'm still not in love, as I like my ribbing tightly knit, but it's miles better than it was before. The pattern notes are right, the hat does fit snuggly, but I think the combination of knitting with the doubled yarn and he colour stranding will go a long way in keeping out the winter wind - a good thing as my mother informed me that she needs a decent hat for "walking the dogs, my ears are cold." This should do the trick.

I started these socks over the weekend when the temperatures dipped both inside and out. The heat was off in our apartment for most of the long weekend and boy howdy my toes were chilly. I figured patterned woolly socks were the answer. I've had this skein Opal 6-fach in the stash for a while and felt it that it was about time that it saw the light of day. I'm knitting it up in Cat Bordhi's Woven Ridge sock pattern from her book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I originally intended it for the BF's feet but was informed that it "wasn't his favourite." That is code for "I hate it. You knit me anything out of that and I'll burn it while you stand there crying." I know these things. So it rested, waiting for it's turn. I don't hate it and I like the pattern. Another bonus? Using it up means that there's more room in the stash for more sock yarn. Happiness may well be measured in sock yarn.

I'm about to plunge into my last Unbloggable Proejct of the christmas season, but I've got those socks and the turquoise sweater on the horizon to give me some blog fodder for the next little while. Now it's off to knit while I watch cheezy crime dramas on tv. Happy knitting!

Meet Stan

Greetings gentle reader! It feels like ages since I last posted. I've been diligently beavering away on the Grey Man Socks and one of the Unbloggable projects. There's really only so much one can write about GMS and the other is a secret - which leaves me precious little to blog about. So instead of writing about my knitting, I'll write about someone else's.

Meet Stan. Created by the lovely Mammals, Stan is an early gift for my birthday. I love him! He's green, he's knit and he's a robot - what's not to love? Mammals has knit a few of these nifty robots and I was pretty excited to get one - in my colour no less. I felt pretty special as Stan was accompanied by a pan of tasty, tasty Rice Krispie squares. Delicious. So far, it's been a great birthday and it's not officially until sunday. Some days, it's good to be me.

In other knitting related news, I got to meet Miss. J's new baby girl Frances Ophelia. Cute, cute, cute. And so little. It's not until you get to hold a new baby that you realize how small they really are. Needless to say, no knitting was accomplished. When little Frances gets a bit bigger, she'll have an enviable wardrobe of lovely knitted goods. Miss J. has made some fabulous little sweaters and I wish that I had taken some photos of the baby and her knits. I was distracted, what can I say?

Well, a quick post, short on content. I apologize and will try to tackle a project that I can actually share with you. Hope all is well out there in KnitLand. Happy knitting!

Grey Man Socks

I am dying, absolutley dying to post about my unbloggable projects, but I can't. I want to, but I won't. I will say that I am really happy with what I've managed to knit up so far -thank you L.K. Yarns for the technical help( I love those ladies, they're always so nice to me.) and I can't wait to share the photos and all my trials and tribulations. I will just say that Tvåändsstickning- that's Scandinavian double-ended knitting for you - is a frustrating endeavor to undertake when on a bit of a schedule. I will revisit it, but not when I feel pressured to get things done by a certain date (you know, like christmas).

Since I can't write about my favourite WIP, I will share with you the glories of knitting Grey Man Socks. I know, calm yourselves, it is exciting stuff.

My Beloved requested man socks for christmas; "hey, you could make me socks for christmas. Not fancy ones though, you like to make fancy socks, I just want plain guy socks. Grey ones." Awesome. Grey socks for big guy feet. Bring it. So, being the loving girlfriend that I am, I dutifully took myself to my favourite LYS (see above) and bought 3 balls of Phildar Preface in Gris Moyen. I bought 3 balls in an olive green too. It's not like this man ever asks me to knit anything for him (which is good, because after last year's 3 hat I-don't-like-any-of-them episode, I mostly gave up). I had a hard time finding a suitably plain sock pattern and ended up using a the 3-Ply Ribbed Sock pattern from a vintage Beehive pattern book my mom found at Value Village for 69 cents. The pattern is just like it sounds, ribbed. The book itself is kind of neat and the pattern is easy to follow and fits the criterion to a T. The yarn is hard to get excited about, not that it's bad, it's just a study-ish sort of slightly heathered sock yarn and doesn't set my heart to fluttering like some other brands do. No slight to Phildar, but not every yarn can be a Fleece Artist yarn.

Let's see, what else is there to write about? I've been missing my weekly knitting and lunch with with Miss J., but she's been busy with her brand new baby girl Frances. I am so happy for Miss J. and can't wait to meet little Frances. I forsee very little knitting getting accomplished, what with all the baby cuteness to distract me. Happy knitting!