Friday, February 15, 2008

"You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"

On winners and losers


Let's start with the loser project.

Yes, this bit of knitted sunshine is a total loser.

The culprit? Check out the calf shaping. The too-tight calf shaping, that is.

The "Stansfield 304" stitch pattern from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Socks is used here. It's in essence a 12-stitch chevron pattern, and really pulls the fabric in.

I've completely thrown in my hand. The sock has been frogged to the ribbing, and I'm thinking about starting over entirely. Such a dis-service to a gorgeous yarn. (Wollmeise in "sonne").

Do I try the next needle size up? I really like my arthritic gauge. Miss "you Undercounted Sassy" November accused me of this last week. Before you start saying, 'oh just add another stitch repeat', I'll add that these socks have 96 stitches before the shaping, and 84 afterward. No, I'm not going to share how many stitches there are per inch!!! Let's just say "lots".

Dense sock fabric is a good thing, I think! :)


The winner: Bohus

For the bohus enthusiast, AnnieSofie sells both Swedish Bohus Stickning books at her shop. That is, they're published in Swedish with just a touch of English thrown in here and there. Yes, even the out of print one is available! The site may not be in your native language, but AnnieSofie will respond to Emails in English. My copies arrived last week in perfect condition.Bohus is a hand I'll never turn in.

Now, it's true, I've loved knitting the colorwork soo much on the Wild Apple pullover that I've procrastinated. I'm just not ready to let the colorwork go! My kit had plenty of yoke yarn, so I've modified the design by adding about seven rows. I think I've just worked out the last few, and I'm looking forward to miles and miles of soft and fluffy green angora on the sleeves and body in the next week.
Before you wrap-up your daily knit blog fix, make sure to check out the new Yarnival over at Miss T's. You might recognize a few MN bloggers in the mix like MaryLou at Yarnerinas, Wound-Too-Tight Deb, and perhaps even this blog too!


9 comments:

Guinifer said...

I saw you, I saw you! I do love the color of that Wollmeise.

Miss T said...

Too bad about that sock! The color is gorgeous.

renee said...

You know my opinion - go up a needle size and live a little. It's crazy to add another repeat, although you'd definitely have enough yarn!

The colors on your Bohus are beautiful. I can understand why you'd want to linger before starting the drudgery of all green - soft, yummy drudgery, of course.

Holly said...

Me, I'd go with a simpler pattern to really show off the yarn colours. They are so cheerful that you just want to be able to enjoy the knitting while being able to finish in this lifetime!
There are some nice knit/purl patterns that are well balanced and so don't draw in.
Those skeins normally have plenty of yardage, still..

limedragon :-: Harriet said...

Oh, too bad about the sock. That color is amazing and perfect for bleak winter days. The bohus is just gorgeous! : )

Elemmaciltur said...

You make me want to knit sweaters....The Bohus is looking good.

And don't worry about frogging Wollmeise. The yarn can take it.

Anonymous said...

It's not that I'm not espousing the virtues of your socks generally, and the standing up of the sock does display the beautiful shaping, but HOLY CRAP! The fact that that sock is standing up by itself!

Think of how much you'll enjoy the bohus...and how you can work other colourwork projects that you'll enjoy just as much...

Diane said...

Bummer about the sock. Terrible when you put all that work in and you aren't happy with the way it's looking.

Was clicking around ravelry and noticed it was your birthday. Hop it's a happy one full of fun and excitment.

Alison said...

Your bohus is looking scrumptious! Sorry the sock was giving you issues... the yarn really is pretty though...

Happy knitting-
ali