I already answered most of these questions for my Hogwart's sock kit swap partner, but I thought I'd post them as well in case any other swap partners or future gift givers might get ideas from it.
1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Go Ravenclaw!!!
2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?
My favorite is by far the knit picks metal dpns. I think they're 6" and I usually use a size US2.
3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
I'd like to try just about anything. I've already tried the clover bamboo but since I'm such a tight knitter they were bent by the time I finished a single sock!
4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
The movie (blue and silver). I'm not a huge fan of gold, although it can work well with other colors sometimes. But in terms of jewelry and such I NEVER wear gold, always silver.
5. Do you have any allergies?
I am allergic to cats. But it only seems to be being around cats that sparks the allergy. Yarn (or presents) stored in a cat friendly environment seems to have no effect on me.
Now onto my knitting adventures for the past few days. I already mentioned my major cabling catastrophe last post. You can see the devastation for yourself:
That last cable was supposed to cross behind not in front! I went and scoured the shelves of Books-a-million for the book
Knit Fix. After about 20 minutes of looking through every title I resigned myself to asking for help. A 5 second computer search showed that they do not carry the book. Now, let me say, in general I am not a fan of Books-a-million. It's just a messy disorganized store (the knitting books were mixed in with crochet, quilting, scrap booking, and origami!!) But I have little options for local book stores at the moment since our Barnes and Noble closed a few months ago when they decided to rebuild the mall it was attached to. I miss my Barnes and Noble! So, back to the story. I drive to the Barnes and Noble that is about 30 minutes away in the next town over and I find the book in about 5 minutes (including the time to find the craft section of the store). I was a little distracted by all the pretty books and accidentally also bought
Simply Baby. No, I'm not pregnant!!! But I hope to be shortly after my husband gets a job. I would make just about everything in this book (with the exception of one of the baby blankets and a coat.) I also plan on putting this book to good use before I would ever need it. I'm going to make either the cabled yoke jacket or the cabled sweater for my neighbor's son who will be 1 year old in October (the one I babysat for this week). Again I digress, back to the wrong direction cable. I get home and decide to wait until later that night when I can give the project my full attention. I took the jump and dropped the stitches to before the cross. So, the directions said to put the two cables on different holders. Done. I'll refer to them as the right cable and the center cable. The right cable is supposed to cross behind the center cable. Then work the left stitch from the center cable up to the left needle. Done. Repeat with last 2 stitches on center cable then knit them onto the right needle. Done. Seems pretty easy so far. Cross the right cable and work up to the left needle. This may require tugging on the fabric. Ummmm. Yeah. Well, this is the one part that could have used a whole lot more explanation! The loose ladder that you work the stitches up is on the right of the center cable and I needed to work the next cable up the left of the center cable. After tugging at the fabric for a while but not really knowing what way to tug, I whipped out the crochet hook again and slowly worked each loose ladder rung across the stitches from the center cable until I had all the loose ladder rungs on the left then proceeded to work each stitch of the left cable up to the left needle and continued knitting like nothing ever happened! At the end the book was worth it cause I didn't have to frog. And there are tons of other helpful tips in there. But right at the most stressful part I felt like I was left all alone, tugging at my knitted sleeve in desperation. But it's done now and I know how to fix it in the future. . . and now so do you!
On a less stressful note, Fawkes:
Well, just sock number one. But I was able to make tons of progress in sock #2 and I'm 4/5's of the way through the leg. I know you can't see the pattern very well. It's supposed to look like fire. Which it does and which you would be able to see if I knew how to take a decent picture with my camera. I'm going to take some pictures outside this weekend since it's gorgeous out right now and hopefully you'll be able to see the pattern then.
These started out as Super Secret Project #1 and were going to be a present for my sister for Christmas (yeah like it's a big surprise that everyone is getting socks this year, you just won't know what socks and what yarn until Christmas day!). If you were following Super Secret Project #1 then you are aware of the problems I had. First off I got gauge on size US0 which seemed weird to me. Then at the end of the 4 repeats for the leg it was only about 4 inches long and didn't fit over my heel. FROG FROG FROG!!! I started over using US2 even though the gauge was way off. I had to do 5 repeats of the pattern to get it to a decent length. I'm not all that happy with the heel. It doesn't fit nearly as well as the striped socks heel or the river rapids heel. They are all heel flap construction, but there's something different about this one. When I wear it it's pretty damn comfy though and it looks fabulous but I'm glad it's not being gifted cause I just have bad feeling about it and it's no fun to give gifts you don't like all that much.
Oh, and just cause I said everyone is getting socks for Christmas, you probably won't be. I PLAN on everyone getting socks for Christmas, but most likely I'll finish one or 2 pairs and then go out and buy presents for everyone else. Especially with Super Secret Project #2 underway. Geesh, that's a tough project!
So, I am anxiously waiting for my sisters and parents to return from a trip to NH. They are making a stop at
Webs (America's Yarn Store) and they know I want sock yarn and I can't wait to see what they get me! Have you heard of Webs. I've never been there. My sister has been once. But I listen to their podcast all the time. OK, I really have to go enjoy the day and this post is ginormous!!
Pattern: Fawkes
I think I'll work on the August Mystery Sock. The last clue isn't up yet so I can't get too much further along. And when I do finish it I'm going to want to cast on another sock cause otherwise I would have no socks on my needles (oh the horror!) I do have some sock yarn on it's way from The Loopy Ewe and from the Hill Country Sock Club so maybe I'll wait for those to get here.
